DBQ Guilded age
Jonte Smith
Mr. Dayeh
Apush
January 22, 2014
Economically, Big businesses provided some of the country’s’ greatest source of wealth as well as granting unimaginable fortune to the owners and leaders of the businesses. They controlled the resources and might have very well controlled the prices of items itself; the huge drop in Document A is clear evidence of their influence. The Gilded Age witnessed the expansion of the scale and scope of American industry. Old industries like iron transformed into modern industries, such as U.S. Steel. The expansion of the nation’s rail system in the decades following the Civil War played a vital role in the transformation of the American economy. New rail lines created a national market and fueled a new consumer culture that enabled businesses to expand from a regional to a nationwide scale.
However, politically their power was questionable and feared. Document D illustrates their control over more than their monopolies, suggesting their power even extends to the senate, whereas Document B compares the railroad president to an abusive king; collecting wages, bypassing the law, and even with the ability to control the economy, and the people affected, as he pleases. This helps to show that the politics are the people who had much gain from this. The railroad president were even more abusive because of the power they had to fire people without cause or without pay. The people had no control over the senate either because the senators were not directly elected within this period. Document H also gives an example of how a corporate giant such as Rockefeller’s Standard Oil can trump the lowly smaller businesses, dominating the market. Socially things were just as unjust; men and women were separated into different workplaces because of gender as seen on Document J, while subject to the military-style organization mentioned in Document C. The government never really interfered when they saw big monopolies rise, and when they
Mr. Dayeh
Apush
January 22, 2014
Economically, Big businesses provided some of the country’s’ greatest source of wealth as well as granting unimaginable fortune to the owners and leaders of the businesses. They controlled the resources and might have very well controlled the prices of items itself; the huge drop in Document A is clear evidence of their influence. The Gilded Age witnessed the expansion of the scale and scope of American industry. Old industries like iron transformed into modern industries, such as U.S. Steel. The expansion of the nation’s rail system in the decades following the Civil War played a vital role in the transformation of the American economy. New rail lines created a national market and fueled a new consumer culture that enabled businesses to expand from a regional to a nationwide scale.
However, politically their power was questionable and feared. Document D illustrates their control over more than their monopolies, suggesting their power even extends to the senate, whereas Document B compares the railroad president to an abusive king; collecting wages, bypassing the law, and even with the ability to control the economy, and the people affected, as he pleases. This helps to show that the politics are the people who had much gain from this. The railroad president were even more abusive because of the power they had to fire people without cause or without pay. The people had no control over the senate either because the senators were not directly elected within this period. Document H also gives an example of how a corporate giant such as Rockefeller’s Standard Oil can trump the lowly smaller businesses, dominating the market. Socially things were just as unjust; men and women were separated into different workplaces because of gender as seen on Document J, while subject to the military-style organization mentioned in Document C. The government never really interfered when they saw big monopolies rise, and when they