Essay Exam #2
Nathan Green
HIST 1700
March 26, 2015
Prof. Ted Moore
Exam Essay #2
During 1878 to 1929 many factors contributed to the increase in power of the federal government. It is multi- layered and complex but there is one primary contributing factor that is responsible for this movement of power. The primary reason for the growth in the size and power of the Federal Government during 1878 – 1929 was a rise in industrialization that gave power to corporations, which threatened the American core beliefs of the United States being a land of boundless economic opportunities and the United States being a classless democratic society.
The first threat that corporations posed on the American people were monopolies which took away economic opportunities. A monopoly is the exclusive possession or control of the supply or trade in a commodity or service. The American people thought that these monopolies would destroy their opportunity for companies to grow. One person who destroyed small businesses and created a monopoly was John D. Rockefeller. He owned Standard Oil Corporation and invented vertical integration which controlled more of the production process. The control of the production process was cutting out the middleman and enabled Rockefeller to make a fortune. The American people had to turn to the Federal Government to regulate these corporations. By giving power to the Federal Government, the people felt they had a voice rather than a Corporation whose voice was the owner. One of the first exchanges of power to the Federal government was when the Interstate Commerce Commission Act (1887) was passed. The Act enabled the Federal Government to regulate railroads and industry because they railroads were a monopoly. This creation directly affected the American core beliefs and gave more economic opportunity to the working class American people.
The second threat that was posed by corporations was their control of the political process that they held which destroyed the belief of America being a classless democratic society. To combat this corruption that was taking place there had to be a reform of some kind to change it. One of the first reforms was the Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883) which gave government jobs to those who merited them instead of those who gave bribes to acquire the job. Then different political parties began to arise to go against the standard two parties that already existed and were under control of the corporations.
The authors of Give Me Liberty said, “the Alliance evolved into the People’s Party (or Populist), [was] the era’s greatest insurgence” (Give Me Liberty, 511). The Populist Party was another step to strengthening the Federal Government. The Populist Party had ideals of a graduated income tax, nationalization of railroads, government owned banks and silos, secret ballot, initiative, referendum, and recall. Most the ideals they held required a rise in power of the Federal Government. Although no third- party candidates ever won a presidency race, they forced the other parties to see the issues the people cared about. This would lead to the other political parties to adopting some of their ideals. President Teddy Roosevelt held some of these ideals and during his presidency implemented his New Nationalism idea. This New Nationalism put natural resources under federal control, regulated industry, and focused on consumer protection. It was aimed at helping the middle class. One law passed during this New Nationalism was the Tillman Act (1907) which banned corporate donations to political candidates. The New Nationalism gave Federal Government a lot of power but it accomplished what the American people believed in which was a classless democratic society.
The Final threat posed by corporations was a lack of safety for workers and limited or no regulation of products which could cause harm to consumers. Between 1880 and 1910 100 workers on average were killed each day in industrial accidents. In 1913, 25,000 workers died and 700,000 were injured. In 1890 the average salary was $490/year, and the average work week was 59 hours. From those statistics you can see that a job at any corporation factory owned by a corporation was a health and safety risk for any worker.
Upton Sinclair, a muckraker journalist who described an experience he had in a meat packing factory. He Wrote,” Worst of any, however, were the fertilizer men, and those who served in the cooking rooms. These people could not be shown to the visitor,--for the odor of a fertilizer man would scare any ordinary visitor at a hundred yards, and as for the other , who worked in tank rooms full of steam, and in some of which there were open vats near the level of the floor, their peculiar trouble was that they fell into the vats; and when they were fished out, there was never enough of them left to be worth exhibiting,--sometimes they would be overlooked for days, till all but the bones of them had gone out to the world as Durham's Pure Leaf Lard!”(Web Source #2).
These corporations didn’t care if a human was grounded up and sent to you to eat and so the American people had to turn to the Federal Government to help them. The Federal Government soon passed the Meat Inspection Act – Pure Food and Drug Act which would enforce inspection of food. Then in 1916 the Adamson Act was passed, to ensure an eight hour days for railroad workers. Law after law was passed, to ensure safety of workers and regulation of products. Each law gave more power to the Federal Government because they were the only ones Americans could turn to for protection from corporations seeking wealth and power.
Abraham Lincoln said, “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves” (Web Source #1). The American people saw that freedom threatened by corporations during 1878-1929. It was a threat to their economic opportunity and classless democratic society through corporation monopolies, corporation controlled political processes, lack of worker safety, and product regulation. But through strengthening the Federal Government the American people were able to retain some of those freedoms. The primary reason for the growth in the size and power of the Federal Government during 1878 – 1929 was a rise in industrialization that gave power to corporations, which threatened American core beliefs of the United States being a land of boundless economic opportunities and the United States being a classless democratic society.
HIST 1700
March 26, 2015
Prof. Ted Moore
Exam Essay #2
During 1878 to 1929 many factors contributed to the increase in power of the federal government. It is multi- layered and complex but there is one primary contributing factor that is responsible for this movement of power. The primary reason for the growth in the size and power of the Federal Government during 1878 – 1929 was a rise in industrialization that gave power to corporations, which threatened the American core beliefs of the United States being a land of boundless economic opportunities and the United States being a classless democratic society.
The first threat that corporations posed on the American people were monopolies which took away economic opportunities. A monopoly is the exclusive possession or control of the supply or trade in a commodity or service. The American people thought that these monopolies would destroy their opportunity for companies to grow. One person who destroyed small businesses and created a monopoly was John D. Rockefeller. He owned Standard Oil Corporation and invented vertical integration which controlled more of the production process. The control of the production process was cutting out the middleman and enabled Rockefeller to make a fortune. The American people had to turn to the Federal Government to regulate these corporations. By giving power to the Federal Government, the people felt they had a voice rather than a Corporation whose voice was the owner. One of the first exchanges of power to the Federal government was when the Interstate Commerce Commission Act (1887) was passed. The Act enabled the Federal Government to regulate railroads and industry because they railroads were a monopoly. This creation directly affected the American core beliefs and gave more economic opportunity to the working class American people.
The second threat that was posed by corporations was their control of the political process that they held which destroyed the belief of America being a classless democratic society. To combat this corruption that was taking place there had to be a reform of some kind to change it. One of the first reforms was the Pendleton Civil Service Act (1883) which gave government jobs to those who merited them instead of those who gave bribes to acquire the job. Then different political parties began to arise to go against the standard two parties that already existed and were under control of the corporations.
The authors of Give Me Liberty said, “the Alliance evolved into the People’s Party (or Populist), [was] the era’s greatest insurgence” (Give Me Liberty, 511). The Populist Party was another step to strengthening the Federal Government. The Populist Party had ideals of a graduated income tax, nationalization of railroads, government owned banks and silos, secret ballot, initiative, referendum, and recall. Most the ideals they held required a rise in power of the Federal Government. Although no third- party candidates ever won a presidency race, they forced the other parties to see the issues the people cared about. This would lead to the other political parties to adopting some of their ideals. President Teddy Roosevelt held some of these ideals and during his presidency implemented his New Nationalism idea. This New Nationalism put natural resources under federal control, regulated industry, and focused on consumer protection. It was aimed at helping the middle class. One law passed during this New Nationalism was the Tillman Act (1907) which banned corporate donations to political candidates. The New Nationalism gave Federal Government a lot of power but it accomplished what the American people believed in which was a classless democratic society.
The Final threat posed by corporations was a lack of safety for workers and limited or no regulation of products which could cause harm to consumers. Between 1880 and 1910 100 workers on average were killed each day in industrial accidents. In 1913, 25,000 workers died and 700,000 were injured. In 1890 the average salary was $490/year, and the average work week was 59 hours. From those statistics you can see that a job at any corporation factory owned by a corporation was a health and safety risk for any worker.
Upton Sinclair, a muckraker journalist who described an experience he had in a meat packing factory. He Wrote,” Worst of any, however, were the fertilizer men, and those who served in the cooking rooms. These people could not be shown to the visitor,--for the odor of a fertilizer man would scare any ordinary visitor at a hundred yards, and as for the other , who worked in tank rooms full of steam, and in some of which there were open vats near the level of the floor, their peculiar trouble was that they fell into the vats; and when they were fished out, there was never enough of them left to be worth exhibiting,--sometimes they would be overlooked for days, till all but the bones of them had gone out to the world as Durham's Pure Leaf Lard!”(Web Source #2).
These corporations didn’t care if a human was grounded up and sent to you to eat and so the American people had to turn to the Federal Government to help them. The Federal Government soon passed the Meat Inspection Act – Pure Food and Drug Act which would enforce inspection of food. Then in 1916 the Adamson Act was passed, to ensure an eight hour days for railroad workers. Law after law was passed, to ensure safety of workers and regulation of products. Each law gave more power to the Federal Government because they were the only ones Americans could turn to for protection from corporations seeking wealth and power.
Abraham Lincoln said, “America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves” (Web Source #1). The American people saw that freedom threatened by corporations during 1878-1929. It was a threat to their economic opportunity and classless democratic society through corporation monopolies, corporation controlled political processes, lack of worker safety, and product regulation. But through strengthening the Federal Government the American people were able to retain some of those freedoms. The primary reason for the growth in the size and power of the Federal Government during 1878 – 1929 was a rise in industrialization that gave power to corporations, which threatened American core beliefs of the United States being a land of boundless economic opportunities and the United States being a classless democratic society.
Work Cited
Lincoln, Abraham. "America Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore. Web. 26 Mar. 2015. <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/keywords/america.html>.
Sinclair, Upton. "Upton Sinclair Quotes." Upton Sinclair Quotes (Author of The Jungle). 1 Jan. 1905. Web. 26 Mar. 2015. http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/23510.Upton_Sinclair>
Sinclair, Upton. "Upton Sinclair Quotes." Upton Sinclair Quotes (Author of The Jungle). 1 Jan. 1905. Web. 26 Mar. 2015. http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/23510.Upton_Sinclair>