|
|
|
|
As the nineteenth century ended, Americans faced economic collapse and despair brought with it social conflict. Labor and capital were locked in conflict. The 1890’s was a decade of despair and disillusionment for many but it was also a time in which the United States expanded its economic borders to become an international power. Hard Times: The economic depression of the 1890s spared no region of the nation or any sector of the economy. Agricultural prices plummeted along with the prices of manufactured goods. Unemployed and homeless, American workers battled police and in some instances banded together forming “industrial armies” which marched to Washington, D.C.
The Overseas Frontier: The decade of the 1890s also brought a metaphorical closing
of the American frontier. But as free land in the west was claimed, American farmers
and manufacturers looked overseas for new consumers. The United States reorganized
itself to compete in the global marketplace: the Congress commissioned the construction
of three steel battleships, it began serious discussions of building a canal linking
the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and it reconceived the tariff all in an attempt
to open foreign markets to American goods.
Progress and Force: The struggle between employees and employers became violent
in 1892 and again in 1894. Andrew Carnegie used his own private police force as
well as the power of the state militia to break a workers’ strike at his
steel mill at Homestead, Pennsylvania. Not only were the strikers broken and defeated,
but also their union. In 1894, the Pullman Strike shut down the nation’s
railroads for two weeks. Again police and soldiers enforced managements’
wishes. Workers were powerless against the forces of the corporation especially
when the corporation was backed up by the army. Labor needed to find ways to adjust
to this new circumstance. Think About This
|