Mass Of Laborers And Farmers example essay topic

In the late 1800's, there passed a great shadow over the country, sped by corruption, desire, and brutality. The rising corporate influences of the time, in their blind ascension to power, found difficulty quelling the mass of laborers and farmers who had risen and fallen in their struggles for justice. Despite the omnipotence of the union between the two towers, government and monopoly, the people responded with unions of their own. And although resistance efforts were often in vain, the strikers, immigrants, and farmers produced revolutionary movements influencing labor struggles and the ideas of socialism affecting labor leaders. With the inundation of new inventions and techniques that hastened America's production efficiency, a shrewd few quickly visualized the potential of harnessing the behemoths of demand-railroads, steel, oil, banking, and stock. Multimillionaires such as John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and J.P. Morgan gained power by selling out competitors and maintaining monopolies of their business.

Of course, their success was furnished by thousands of laborers toiling for the barest of wages, who finally mutinied through "Coxey's Army", protesting the depression of 1893 to President Cleveland. This was among the first demonstrations the government would find itself suppressing. However, the strongest case for corruption was within the Supreme Court. The Sherman Act was legislation passed specifically to limit the powers of monopolies; but somehow through the sophisticated interpretation of the Court, whose members were wealthy and influential men, monopolies were deemed untouchable. Philosophies on the great success of these men came out as highly romanticized books, lectures, and theories. Social Darwinism, which justified the rich and shamed the poor, was a prominent theme in many Chautauqua lectures, particularly by a man named Russell Conwell.

He gave the speech "Acres of Diamonds" over 5,000 times to encourage men to "carry on great enterprises". Through these heavily biased systems of government and manipulation, powerful men claimed lordship over the weak and dissolved laborers, but the great movements of the 1880's and 1890's served to revolutionize the status quo. As millions of Americans saw the injustice of their plight and vowed to strike into the heart of the ruling elite, nationwide labor strikes, organizations, and incidences led to a national crisis. Immigrants and native laborers made up the bulk of the Knights of Labor and the American Federation of Labor, which first started campaigning for 8-hour days. Their first victory was humbled by the fact that the unions had not been recognized as bargaining agents. Soon after, waves of railroad strikes caused much friction between militia and laborers.

This tension culminated in the Haymarket Affair, which resulted in the death of five victims convicted without evidence and worldwide contempt for the Illinois Supreme Court. The depression of 1893 also triggered many reform movements. Eugene Debs, a socialist, pushed for unionism, which resulted in the Pullman Strike. Railroad workers answered his call and boycotted trains nationwide; unfortunately, many died and were wounded for the cause. Farmers also came together under the Farmers' Alliance, which later became the Populist party.

They campaigned for government subsidies and limited power of railroad and other business monopolies. Through the sacrifices of the laborers, short term success was not achieved. But for the first time, the government began to realize what had to be done to stop the bloodshed that was tearing the country apart, and that was the greatest achievement.