Big Business In The Industrial Age

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Big Business in the Industrial Age Business ruled during the years after the Civil War. Just before the Civil War, Congress passed legislation allowing businesses to form corporations without a charter from the U.S. government. After the Civil War, these corporations came to dominate much of American business, and, in the process, to define American life. The era of Big Business began when entrepreneurs in search of profits consolidated their businesses into massive corporations, which were so large that they could force out competition and gain control of a market. Control of a market allowed a corporation to set prices for a product at whatever level it wanted. These corporations, and the businessmen who ran them, became exceedingly wealthy…show more content…
The government, and much of the nation, believed in the principles of laissez-faire economics, which dictated that the economic market should run freely without government interference. According to the theory, free, unregulated markets led to competition, which in turn led to fair prices of goods for consumers. The government did not want to interfere in the free market. Any concern for the plight of the poor during this time was minimized by the tenets of social Darwinism, which became popular in the late 1800s. Social Darwinism adapted Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, “survival of the fittest,” to the business world, arguing that competition was necessary to foster the healthiest economy (just as competition in the natural world was necessary to foster the healthiest, or fittest, species). Proponents of social Darwinism adhered to a “help those who help themselves” philosophy: government shouldn’t invest in programs for the poor, because the poor had no positive impact on the nation’s financial health. The rich, meanwhile, were strong, hard working citizens who contributed to national progress, and, as such, should not be subject to government regulation. Prominent social Darwinists included Herbert Spencer and Andrew Carnegie, whose essay promoting free market economy, “The Gospel of Wealth,” was published in…show more content…
The harsh, even hazardous, working conditions arising from industrialization drove laborers to organize into unions. One of the first major unions was the Knights of Labor, founded in 1869. The Knights demanded equal pay for women, an end to child labor, and a progressive income tax, among other reforms. The union claimed a substantial membership, including women, blacks, and immigrants. In 1885, the group staged a successful strike against railroad “robber baron” Jay Gould. The strike so severely crippled Gould’s operation that he had no choice but to fold. On the strength of this victory, the Knights’ membership and political power grew. The Knights successfully supported a number of politicians for election and forced laws favorable to workers through
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