The Gilded Age existed during the late 1800s where the corruption of the government was at its peak and the lowest point of American politics. “The Gilded Age” was a name given by Mark Twain in his belief that politics corruption and greed lurked below the polite and prosperous luster of American society. He believed that politics was like the base material that hides beneath the glittering gold surface of a gilded object. Because of such beliefs many reform movements or labor movements established. Some labor movements emerged from political corruptions was the “American Federation of Labor” (AFL). “Knights of Labor”, “Congress of Industrial Organizations” (CIO), the “Farmers’ Alliance”, and the “Populist Party”.
In this time period, America was in an industrial growth and had to make sure that the laissez-faire type government did not hinder its success. A laissez-faire type government meant that the government cannot intervene in commerce beyond the minimum necessary for a free-enterprise system to operate according to its own economic laws. In contribution to having the government not interfering in the economics of the country was the band of presidents who did insignificant acts in office to prevent corruption from happening.
With each labor movement the government tried to suppress any chance of their ideas rising to the top. The Interstate Commerce Act was passed in 1887, where it prohibited railroads from giving secret rebates to larger shippers or charging more for short hauls than for long hauls over the same line. They made sure that the prices and railroad rates had to be reasonable and just. Although this was passed, the government did not do much to enforce it. The Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) was established to monitor railroad activities but when there were charges on railroads with violating the law, the courts almost always ruled in the railroads’ favor. This meant that the poor and the working class still could not put their voice through in the world. (“Labor”, Encarta Encyclopedia Online, http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_1741500823_21/United_States_(History).html)
The Populist Party Platform provided a great description of what the political mood was during the Gilded Age when their preamble stated, “Neither do they now promise us any substantial reform. They have agreed together to ignore, in the coming campaign, every issue but one. They propose to drown the outcries of a plundered people with the uproar of a sham battle over the tariff, so that capitalists…and the oppressions of the usurers may all be lost sight of. They propose to sacrifice our homes, lives, and childresn…. to destroy the multitude in order to secure corruption funds from the millionaires.”. The Populist Party had always defended the working class and stated how other parties, or reform movements did not place great effort to debate over real issues of the economy that were bothering America of that time period. (“The Populist Party Platform, http://www.wwnorton.com/eamerica/media/ch22/resources/documents/populist.htm; September 2005.)
The labor movement was unable to establish itself as a strong broad-based movement during the Gilded Age was primarily because the corruption in the government was able to suppress it. As new parties and unions would emerge to aid the labor movement, but some of them were dispersed. Some of them were dispersed because of conflicts and disagreeing views on different issues, and some dispersed due to the lack of progress. Nonetheless, these labor movements proved unsuccessful in providing a strong movement during the Gilded Age.
