Robber Barons and Rebels by Elliott Eastman.
September 25, 2013
1. What was the technology that transformed the workplace from 1865-1900?
What economic and social effects did the new technology have on American society?
The technology that would transform the workplace was these new, huge machines.
These machines would take over the jobs of the product line workers, which would make it easier for the companies because they wouldn’t have to pay all of these workers. This helped on the economic side because the companies were able to produce more products at a faster rate than the line workers, for example. Then, for the social effects on society, since the telephone was invented, people were able to spread their businesses.
Faster, so that everybody knew about it.
2. Why did it take money to make money” during the period of rapid economic expansion?
After the Civil War, what are the implications of this for the potential for social mobility?
To make money, you need to spend money. This means that if you are buying cotton for your sweaters, that is the buying part. After you make the sweater, you sell it for a higher price. This is where you make your money back and more. In this economy, big businesses are shutting down the smaller ones. They spend a little bit of money, shut out these other businesses, and then charge high prices for their products.
For social mobility, it is important to keep things the way they have been. Otherwise, the lower class may not be able to move up when prices are so high.
3. How many railroad workers were killed or injured in 1889? Why did so many workers die on the job?
In 1889, the number of workers killed on the job was 22,000. These people were dying on the job because their shifts could last up to 12 hours. Additionally, the individuals working these 12-hour shifts every day were only 16 years old.
4. How did J.P. Morgan justify his methods of doing business?
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J.P. Morgan justified his methods of doing business because he felt that doing otherwise would cause financial convulsions, which would lead to a chain reaction of negative consequences.
5. What methods did each of the following use to build their fortune?
A. J. P. Morgan had started out as the son of a banker who was selling stocks for the railroads for a good commission. He would buy rifles for cheap prices and then sell them to a general for a much higher price. He also would escape military service by paying $300 to a substitute. While Morgan was making his fortune, he was also keeping the system stable. He was making his fortune on the railroad system, and by 1900, he controlled 100,000 miles of the railroad.
B. Rockafellar, who started out as a bookkeeper, would then become a merchant. He saved up money and bought his first oil refinery in 1862. In 1870, he would have his own oil refinery, the Standard Oil Company of Ohio. His idea was that whoever had control of the oil refinery controlled the oil industry. He would then make secret agreements with railroads to ship his product for a discount. This would drive out other competition, leaving him to force high prices.
C. Carnegie’s methods were to start out as a telegraph clerk, then move up to the position of secretary for the head of the Pennsylvania Railroad. After that, he became a broker on Wall Street, where he sold railroad bonds for a huge commission. This eventually made him a millionaire. Following his trip to London, he returned to the United States and started his own million-dollar steel plant. Due to the high tariff set by Congress, there was no foreign competition. Carnegie soon made 40 million dollars a year and eventually sold his company to J.P. Morgan for around $492,000,000.
7. How does Zinn argue that the Supreme Court cannot possibly act in a neutral fashion? What is the argument against Zinn?
Zinn states key facts to show that they do not act in a neutral fashion, such as how the Supreme Court could be independent when its members are all chosen by the President and ratified by the Senate. All they want is to help big businesses. Additionally, it cannot be neutral between the rich and poor when its members are all wealthy lawyers from the upper class.
8. What definition of law” was Supreme Court Justice David Brewer using when he addressed the New York State Bar Association? What point was Brewer trying to make? What point is Zinn trying to make by including this question?
In my personal opinion, I feel like Brewer is using definition B, “A rule of conduct enforced by a controlling authority.” He was trying to make the point that all our wealth is going to be in the hands of the rich upper class. Zinn includes the quotation to show really how these bigger businesses and upper class really didn’t care; all they cared about was the money at this point in time.
9. What role did philanthropy play in maintaining the status quo? How does this inform you about the heated debate of the last fifteen years regarding whether the U.S. government should give grants to artists and scientists?
With Rockafellar and Carnegie having these huge amounts of money, they needed something to do with it after they were gone. So, they would end up giving most of their money to help build new schools and help in general. They would also help provide studies for new doctors, lawyers, and other professionals who would be paid to keep the system going. This informs me about the heated debate because I can tell that back then, they had a lot more money to give these grants away without worry because they knew it was going to better the future. Now that we don’t have as much money, we need to be careful and make sure we will get something out of it.
How did the educational system function as a tool to reproduce the system? In your experience, are today’s educational structure, methods, and content any different from what they were in the late nineteenth century?
The educational system was teaching the things that would rebuild a new system. The middlemen would learn to become doctors, lawyers, and other professionals. On the other hand, the lower class were in school to become literate. They would learn to read, write, and do some arithmetic. This was to create a new working generation for the new industrial revolution. In my opinion, our educational system structures are much different from back then. They were more focused on the working class and divided schools based on income. Now, we are trying to give everyone a chance at a great education regardless of their income. We are not basing anything on the family’s income.
11. What was Henry George’s solution to the unequal distribution of wealth? What was Edward Bellamy’s solution? What evidence indicates that these ideas were popular at the time?
Henry George’s solution to the unequal distribution of wealth was that since the basis of wealth was land, it was becoming monopolized. He thought that a single tax on enough revenue could solve the problem of poverty and equalize the wealth in the nation. Edward Bellamy wrote a book in which he fell asleep and woke up in 2000 to find a socialistic society where people work and live cooperatively. These were great ideas because people were starting to realize that the current system was flawed and they were beginning to think of new ways of living.
