The populist movement was a period in history where America was plagued with a lot of corruption and economic issues. The gold standard was causing deflation, the farmers were trying to gain political power, many businesses were being monopolized, and so much more. The gold standard was one of the biggest debate points of the election of 1896. William Jennings Bryan, the Democratic candidate, was a large supporter of free silver. Free silver, if put into the economy, would most likely cause inflation and help the farmers.
Copper, lead and zinc were a few of the new metals that were being mined to provide raw materials for manufacturers. Brinkley (2007) states “such efforts proved more profitable in the long run that the usually short-lived gold and silver extraction. “ Brinkley, A. (2007). American History: A Survey, Twelfth Edition.
However in 1929 disaster struck as banks went bust and share prices hit rock bottom.The roaring twenties, the age of excess and the Jazz age. These are just a few nicknames that were given to the 1920’s. To some people the 1920’s in America were the best of times, to others it was the period when things were wrong. People have such different opinions about America in the 1920’s for a number of reasons. When America became an isolationist it turned its energies towards creating an economic boom.
Explain how TWO of the following individuals responded to the economic and social problems created by industrialization during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Jane Addams Andrew Carnegie Samuel Gompers Upton Sinclair After the Civil War, the U.S. had began to enter a period of prospering and development known as industrialization. Even with the vast amount of wealth it created, industrialization had also created multiple economic and social problems, mostly inequality. An entrepreneur such as Andrew Carnegie had responded to this problem by believing in Social Darwinism and advocating the Gospel of Wealth, where Upton Sinclair had attacked the corruption of industries and exposed inequality. A partial believer in Social Darwinism, Carnegie had sought to rationalized the uneven distribution of wealth by fighting the theory of survival of the fittest.
Explain why the TUC called a general strike in 1926? Between 1918 and 1923 there were many economic problems facing Britain, which led to the miners not being happy with working pay and conditions. The miners formed a triple alliance with the transport workers and railway men. This means if the miners went on strike, the other 2 would also strike, causing a mass disruption to Britain. The first signs of disruption that led to the general strike was the fact that other countries such as Poland were becoming a more predominant exporter of coal, and the only way to stop Britain’s coal industry was to higher the price of coal, extend miners working hours and reduce pay.
The economic problems of the Soviet Bloc were at the core of communisms downfall. In the early days of communism Stalin had set out to emulate the success of the western capitalist economies, which were at the time dominated by heavy industry (steel, power plants, and chemicals). Stalin thought that this success could be reproduced, but at a much faster and efficient rate with planning and communist control. Stalin did actually achieve this, and the soviet bloc enjoyed long periods of economic prosperity. However, Stalin’s adaptation of the model for economic success was too rigid, and as capitalism moved on, providing luxury goods to consumers such as cars, “the Soviets and Eastern Europeans found themselves in the 1980s with the most advanced industries of the late 19th and early 20th centuries- polluting, wasteful, energy intensive, inflexible-in short with massive rust belts” (Chirot, 1991 p.283).
The Progressive Era The decades between 1890 and 1920 was a period of vital reform activity that historians have called, The Progressive Era. In this era millions of Americans organized in voluntary associations to come up with solutions to the many problems. Industrialization, with all its increase in productivity and the number of consumer goods, created unemployment and labor unrest, wasteful use of natural resources and abuses of corporate power. Growing cities added to the problems of African Americans versus The Social Sciences American segregation was a bitter part of American history. Even worse, though, are the securing reasons for the need of segregation and the defense of the institution.
In the era following the Civil War, Industrialization had many leaders. These leaders achieved the great growth of the economy and industry of the United Sates, leading the United States to become the leading industrial power in the world. Many historians question how honest these men were with their actions, we critique them because of the way they distributed their fortunes. It is true; many of these industrial leaders did cause harm socially, creating barriers and many competitions nationwide. They are called “industrial statesmen” for the great economic power they helped America become.
Post Civil War industrialized America was full of new inventions and systems of business. Unfortunately many of these corporations that were started had corrupt leaders. Starting with the credit mobilier in the railroad industry to Jay Cooke in the finance industry and Carnegie in the steel industry. Most of these corporations created many jobs for Americans and the immigrants entering the US but they also gave them bad working conditions and low wages so that they could make as much profit as possible. Many historians call these leaders of the corporations the “robber barons”.
The 1920s saw a success in progressive movements and labor union efforts, but there was still disputes that occurred. This was mainly caused by the massive rates of unemployment after the war ended. Labor unions, once again, on strike, but Harding stood up to it. In 1922, a coal strike broke out, similar to one that happened during Roosevelt’s presidency. Harding handled similarly to how Roosevelt, and set the strikers back to work.