gilded age capitalism causes and consequences of corporate supremacy
DESCRIPTION
Corporations in Control Monopoly Power – Horizontal Monopoly Controlling all production within an industry e.g., owning all steel plants – Vertical Monopoly Controlling all aspects of the production process from start to finish e.g., owning mines, processing, steel plants, marketingTRANSCRIPT
Gilded Age Capitalism
Causes and Consequences of Corporate Supremacy
How did corporations gain control of the economy in the Gilded Age?
• New technologies and scale of mass production requires large outlays of capital– “crowding out” of small
producers
• Corporations become very large and very powerful
Corporations in Control
• Monopoly Power– Horizontal Monopoly
• Controlling all production within an industry
• e.g., owning all steel plants
– Vertical Monopoly• Controlling all aspects of the
production process from start to finish
• e.g., owning mines, processing, steel plants, marketing
Corporations in Control
• Cartels
• Trusts
• Holding Companies
How did the wealthy justify their position in the Gilded Age?
• Individualism– Horatio Alger
• Social Darwinism– William Graham Sumner,
Folkways (1906)
• The Gospel of Wealth– Andrew Carnegie
Gilded Age Philosophy
• Socialism– Active role for government
• Utopianism– Henry George, Progress and
Poverty (1879)– Edward Bellamy, Looking
Backward (1887)
• Anarchism
How did Gilded Age capitalism treat workers?
• De-skilling– From craft to industry
• Wages were low– Tied to prices– “piece work”
• Long hours
How did workers try to assert power in the Gilded Age?
• National Labor Union (1866-72)– William Sylvis– Political party
• “Molly Maguires”
How did workers try to assert power in the Gilded Age?
• Knights of Labor (1869-1949)– Uriah Stephens; Terrance Powderly– Open to all workers (craft and industrial)
• American Federation of Labor (1886-present)– Samuel Gompers– Craft Unionism
Workplace Tactics
• Strike– Sit-down–Walkout
• Work to rule– Soldiering
• Sabotage– Sabots
Other Tactics
• Lobbying–Chinese Exclusion
Act (1882)– Tariffs
• Elections–Greenback-Labor
Party
• Public opinion
The Pinkerton Agency
• Private detective agency• Hired by companies to:– Investigate workers– Disrupt union activity
• By 1870s, had developed private army