Employment During the Gilded Age free essay sample

The Gilded Age, also known as the age of steel, was a sequence of reformation including: industrial and technological advances, economic growth, labor unions, politics, women’s rights, and foreign affairs. The foundations of industrialism were established in the United States during the first sign of industrialization, which occurred between the American Revolution and the American Civil War. But by the time of the Civil War, however, these advances were limited to only discrete segments of the country. However, in 1860 the United States, confident and ready, began era of extraordinarily industrialization, that would renovate the country into a society that became profoundly dependent on industry. Industrial workers faced numerous hardships throughout The Gilded Age including but not limited to: poverty, brutal working conditions, and little to no pay. These men, women, and children were labored ` until they became ill, or they died. The Industrial workers faced numerous difficulties getting their voices heeded to. However, their tactics and strategies through various methods such as attempting to form labor unions (AFL, Knights of Labor, IWW) and organizing strikes (Pullman Strike, Homestead Strike) proved to be unsuccessful by the late 1900’s. Heavy machinery played a vital role during the Industrial Revolution. Machines such as the steam engine and the railroad, especially, created a more rapid system of producing and distributing. The railroad made possible what is sometimes called the ‘second industrial revolution’. The production of steel, locomotives, sewing machines, chiefly, locomotives became extremely useful during this time. â€Å"†¦The number of railroad track in the United States tripled between 1860 and 1880 and tripled again by 1920†¦Ã¢â‚¬  Railroads provided The United States with a beneficial way to transport goods around the country. â€Å"†¦Opening vast new areas to commercial farming and creating a truly national market for manufactured goods. †2 The United States had developed into an industrial economy. By 1913, the United States produced one-third of the world’s industrial output- more than the total of Great Britain, France and Germany combined. †3 Since the United States had started to become industrialized, more citizens were changing their careers from farming to industries. â€Å"Between 1870 and 1920, almost II million Americans moved from farm to city, and another 25 million immigrants arrived from overseas. †4 However, with t he racing production of these new machines and capital goods without the needed help of any laborer, industries decided to â€Å"deskill† their employees. Meaning, the jobs needed no longer required ‘skilled’ people. A company could hire someone with no knowledge of the machine and teach him or her in little to no time how to operate it. Most of the time, the hired â€Å"scabs† were the immigrants who would actually be willing to work for little to no pay. This ‘deskilling’ led more problems than the company would have anticipated. Workers had almost â€Å"no negotiating power, therefore, if the boss wanted to cut wages he could and the workers couldn’t say no. 5 This led to strikes. One method the industrial workers tried to utilize to help gain their employee rights back was a strike. Though strikes, they thought, would be helpful, they ultimately failed. The industrial workers had tried reasoning with their boss’ about the wages they were being paid for the amount of time they would work each day. The owners of the company sought only to produce the most product with the least price, w hich in-turn meant cutting workers wages. One worker meant nothing to them. This then brought the thought of a strike to mind. Since the concern of one employee meant nothing to the tyrant boss, then they would gather the whole company and come together as one to protest. One strike in particular, the Pullman Strike, took place on June 26, 1894. This strike was the result of â€Å"wage cuts of 25%†6 by The Pullman Palace Car Company. â€Å"Pullman told the workers that he’s cutting wages by 25%- yet he’d keep the wages off their homes. †7 â€Å"The Pullman Strike of 1894 was the first national strike in United States history. Before coming to an end, it involved over 150,000 persons and twenty-seven states and territories and would paralyze the nations railway system. The entire rail labor force of the nation would walk away from their jobs. In supporting the capital side of this strike President Cleveland for the first time in the Nations history would send in federal troops, who would fire on and kill United States Citizens, against the wishes of the states. The federal courts of the nation would outlaw striking by the passing of the Omnibus indictment. This blow to unionized labor would not be struck down until the passing of the Wagner act in 1935. This all began in the little town of Pullman, Illinois, just south of Chicago. †8 The results of the Pullman strike were massive yet, insignificant. They were massive because the strike showed the power of national unions. But, the strike also showed the readiness of the federal government to arbitrate and support the capitalists against joined labor. The results were insignificant however, because for all of the incorporated effort of the unions the workers did not get their rents lowered.