The Powerful Few vs. The Many Powerless

People, places, and power are three key elements involved in influencing events and society. People, places, and power played major roles in causing the rise of corporate America in the 19th century and the conflict between labor and big business.  Through reading and learning about the people, places, and power in America during the rise of corporate America, one can learn how each key idea factored into the economic, political, and social change that occured in the country.  Today, corporate businesses and wealthy investors are a part of our culture. The television show Shark Tank features wealthy investors not dissimilar to the wealthy men of the 19th century.  In the 19th century, however wealthy men never interacted with lower class citizens where as today billionaire Mark Cuban exchanges messages with myself and others, and he follows me on Twitter. During the 19th century, however, big businesses were just being established in America and the ongoing conflicts between the uber rich and the ultra poor were just beginning.  

Samuel Morse- Invented the telegraph which was a machine that provided a way to send messages.

Edwin L. Drake - First to successfully drill for oil leading to it becoming a major industry.

Thomas A. Edison-An inventor who invented many things including the electric light bulb.  He had a powerplant built so many people could use the new electrical lighting and not need their own generator.  Electric power from powerplants was used to also power fans, printing presses and other new appliances.

Alexander Graham Bell- An inventor who invents the telephone in Boston, MA.  Bell and partners create the American Telephone and Telegraph Company which becomes a monopoly.

Transcontinental Railroad- A railway extending from coast to coast.

Bessemer Process- A new process for making steel independently developed by Henry Bessemer and William Kelly.

Andrew Carnegie -A businessman and investor from Pittsburgh who had a "rags to riches" story.  He became rich with his investments and his steel company, Carnegie Steel Company.  He learned that to make money you need money.  He wad also a major public figure.  He believed people should make money but give most away.  He wrote a now famous book titled The Gospel of Wealth.  He also put a lot of money towards education.

John D. Rockefellar- A powerful and wealthy businessman in the US who earned his fortune after starting the Standard Oil Company in 1870.

Oligopoly- A market structure where a few large profitable firms dominate.

Monopoly-Complete control of a product or service.

Vertical consolidation- Gaining control of the many different businesses that make up all phases of a product's developement.

Economies of Scale- As production increases the cost of each priduct is lowered.

Horizontal consolidation- The bringing together of many firms in the same business. 

Trust- A single unit that manages and controls a company/companies.

Sherman Antitrust Act- An act that outlawed any combination of companies that restrained interstate trade or commerce.

Piecework- A system where workers are paid for amount of work they do (number of items/pieces produced) and not the amount of time they work.

Sweatshop- A place (shop) where employees worked for low wages in poor conditions usually under the piecework system.

Division of Labor-A method where each worker is assigned a different, small task to perform for the production of a product.  

Socialism-An economic and political philosophy that favors public instead of private control of property and income.

The Knights of Labor Union - A union that accepted many different people and pursued broad social reforms.  In 1882 they sponsored the first Labor Day.

Craft Union- A union where not all workers are organized; rather only skilled workers in a network of smaller unions, each devoted to a specific craft are organized.

Collective Bargaining- A process in which workers negotiate as a group with employers.

The Great Railroad Strike of 1877- A series of strikes that resulted after large wage cuts angered workers.  These workers decided to run strikes to prevent running trains.  They also attacked railroad property and the federal government was requested to step in to help stop the strikes.  Federal troops were sent in multiple times to stop the violence.  It started in Martinsburg West Virginia and continued in Pittsburgh, Chicago, St. Louis and other cities.  These strikes symbolize the start of a new and violent era.

Eugene V. Debs -A man that took a leadership role in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen.  He spoke out against 1877 strike and did not believe strikes should be violent.

Industrial Union- A union that organized all workers from all crafts in a given industry.

The American Railway Union- A union that united all railroad workers.

Haymarket 1866-A national demonstration on May 1st for eight hour workday in Chicago Haymarket Square that caused other strikes to break out in other cities.  On May 3rd, fighting between strikers and scabs in Chicago's McCormick reaper factory occurred.  On May 4th a rally started by Union leaders occured in Chicago Haymarket Square which quickly became violent with a bonb being thrown and multiple casualties.

Scab- A negative term for a worker called in by an employer to replace striking laborers.

George Pullman-An inventor who invented a luxury sleeping car.  He made a town just for workers.  He cut wages casuing people to become angry and strike.  He responded by killing some of the strikers. 

J.P. Morgan-A son of a banker who sold stocks for railroads as well as defective rifles.  He started the J.P. Morgan & Company, aquring a fortune.  He brought rationality and organization to the national economy.  He aquried many businesses including the Carnegie Steel Company which he turned into the U.S. Steel Cooporation.  

Enduring Understanding: The creation of new ideas by people allow a small amount of people to obtain a large amount of power.

• Drilling for oil was a new idea disovered by Edwin L. Drake (America: Pathways to the Present).  John D. Rockefeller took advantage of this new idea and bought an oil refinery starting the Standard Oil Company which made him become a wealthy and poweful man with a fortune of two billion dollars (A People's History of the United States: Robber Barrons and Rebels 256-257)
• Andrew Carnegie saw the new method for producing steel known as the Bessemer method and built a steel plant which he in turn sold to J.P. Morgan for 492 millions dollars.  Carnegie became another wealthy and powerful business man (A People's History of the United States: Robber Barrons and Rebels 257)

Enduring Understanding: Large groups of people, sometimes coming from different places, work in similar places for a few people who in turn gain immense power.

• Italian, Russian, Jewish, Greek, Chinese and other immigrants who came to the United States all worked for powerful men.  These men often mass-contracted the immigrants to various businesses.  For example, some immigrants worked together in sulfate mines in poor conditions in the South which created wealth and power for the owners of the mines (A People's History of the United States: Robber Barrons and Rebels 265-266).
• 75% of the nation's wealth was held by the richest 9% of Americans, meaning most of the money was going toward a few powerful men in a consolidating effect.  The annual salary of the average worker was only a few hundred dollars while the owners of businesses that many of these workers worked for sometimes accumulated millions or hundreds of millions of dollars from these workers' efforts (America: Pathways to the Present).

Enduring Understanding: People with power will try to opress those working in the same places that do not have power, especially when these people try to change the distribution of power.

• George Pullman cut wages for his workers who all lived in the town he created for them, in order to achieve more wealth and power for himself.  When the workers protested, Pullman fired three protesters causing the union to go on strike.  He did not give in and instead shut down his plant (America: Pathways to the Present).
• The Texas & Pacific Railroad fired someone who was a leader of a union called the Knights of Labor which lead to many workers of the railroad to go on strike.  The company had these strikers arrested for refusing to work (A People's History of the United States: Robber Barrons and Rebels 269).

During the rise of corporate America in the 19th century, new inventions and ideas led to a few men obtaining massive amounts of power through the creation of new businesses and even entire industries.  The men in power consolidated all the power and wealth obtained through the work of thousands of workers for themselves.  Most of these workers worked in factories and many were coming from different places and immigrating into the country.  To preserve this power they oppressed thousands of workers they had employed.   

Inventions like the light bulb from Thomas Edison and the telephone by Alexander Graham Bell led to new big businesses like General Electric and the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (America: Pathways to the Present).  Other people were taking advantage of new industries to obtain exorbitant amounts of wealth and power like John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie.  After Edwin L. Drake found a way to successfully drill for oil, Rockefeller bought an oil refinery and eventually created the Standard Oil Company which made him become a wealthy and poweful man with a fortune of two billion dollars (A People's History of the United States: Robber Barrons and Rebels 256-257).  Carnegie took advantage of the newly discovered Bessemer method that produced steel more efficiently and started the Carnegie Steel Company which he later sold to J.P. Morgan for 492 million dollars(A People's History of the United States: Robber Barrons and Rebels 257).  This helped him become a public figure and gain a lot of wealth.

A large amount of labor was required to keep businesses going, but most of the wealth earned through the hard labor of workers went to owners of factories and businessmen.  75% of the nation's wealth was held by the richest 9% of Americans, meaning most of the money was going toward a few powerful men in a consolidating effect (America: Pathways to the Present).  The annual salary of the average worker was only a few hundred dollars while the owners of businesses that many of these workers worked for sometimes accumulated millions or hundreds of millions of dollars from these workers' efforts (America: Pathways to the Present).  Most workers worked in similar places but often had immigrated from various countries.  People of all different nationalties and ethnicities including Italian, Russian, Jewish, Greek, and Chinese came to the United States and worked for powerful men (A People's History of the United States: Robber Barrons and Rebels 265-266).  These men often mass-contracted the immigrants to various businesses.  For example, some immigrants worked together in sulfate mines in poor conditions in the South which created wealth and power for the owners of the mines (A People's History of the United States: Robber Barrons and Rebels 265-266).

Not only was a large amount of labor required to keep businesses profitable and functional, but the wealthy and powerful men opressed people who tried to obtain some of their wealth and power.  Many people were employed in factories during the rise of coporate America while some worked on railroads.  These people worked so hard and for so little money that they created unions to protect themselevs and other workers and to strike to change the distribution of power and their miserable conditions.  When the Texas & Pacific Railroad fired someone who was a leader of a union called the Knights of Labor, many workers of the railroad went on strike (A People's History of the United States: Robber Barrons and Rebels 269).  The company responded by having these strikers arrested for refusing to work (A People's History of the United States: Robber Barrons and Rebels 269).  Another man who wanted to keep and obtain more power and money was George Pullman.  He invented a luxury sleeping car for trains and created his own town just for his own workers (America: Pathways to the Present).  He decided to cut wages to increase his profits, and when angry workers protested, he fired three of them (America: Pathways to the Present).  This just increased the anger of the workers who then decided to go on strike, but Pullman refused to give in and ended up shutting down one of his plants (America: Pathways to the Present).

In the 19th century the rise of corporate America caused conflicts between laborers and big businesses.  Most people during this time were either part of the few wealthy and powerful or workers for these powerful few.  The people with power were greedy for more wealth and power and oppressed those who worked for them.  The people who worked for them worked in similar places and conditions, many of whom had come from all over the world and were immigrants to the United States.  Inventions and new industries drove the developement of corporate America. 

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The KKK in the South Kills Reconstruction

                When a child thinks of opposites, he/she may think of hot and cold, yes and no, smart and stupid.  When someone thinks of opposites that occurred during the 19^th century in the United States, he/she will think of black and white, north and south.  Opposites in history have been the central cause to many conflicts.  During the 19^th century in the United States, the reconstruction was occurring; a time after the civil war, when reorganization or reestablishment of the seceded US states was taking place.  The reconstruction was not just a physical reconstruction, but a time when blacks and whites social and equality issues were being discussed and acted upon.  In the United States during the late 19^th century, the conflicts between black and white people increased after the end of reconstruction.  Reconstruction is considered to have ended with The Compromise of 1877.  This compromise allowed Hayes to win the electoral vote and the presidency, but in return he had to immediately remove Union troops from the south who were assisting with reconstruction.  Leading up to this compromise there were many different actions taken by the North and South that led up to the demise of reconstruction.  While the North contributed to ending reconstruction, the main cause was the violent treatment of blacks by the South.

                In the south, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), a group of white men who terrorized people including blacks, created violence that led towards the end of reconstruction.  One senator, John W. Stephens, from Caswell was murdered by the KKK for being a “brave Republican” (Document A).  He was considered a scalawag; someone from the south who supported blacks and the efforts made by carpetbaggers and freedmen.  Carpetbaggers, northerners who went south to aid in reconstruction, were also threatened by the KKK.  Tourgee, the author of the letter to a senator, states that he feels threatened by the KKK (Document A).  Tourgee was a carpetbagger and supported blacks during reconstruction.  He said that “any member of Congress who, especially from the South, does not support, advocate, and urge immediate active and thorough measures to put an end to these outrages…is a coward, a traitor, or a fool” (Document A).  Tourgee believed that the KKK posed a major threat to his and other carpetbagger and scalawags’ safety (Document A).  If the carpetbaggers and scalawags supporting and aiding in reconstruction were threatened or killed, it would lead to an end in reconstruction.  

The picture of two white carpetbaggers and scalawags with a KKK donkey, anonymously posted in the Independent Monitor, shows that the KKK was threatening to hang carpetbaggers and scalawags which would also lead to the end of aid from them, resulting in the ruin of the reconstruction effort (Document A).  The KKK not only threatened carpetbaggers and scalawags, but they also threatened blacks who wanted to vote for radical republicans.  Blacks voted for radical republicans because they were northern republican congressmen who supported African-American citizenship and punishment for former Confederates.  Radical republicans supported reconstruction.  The KKK, consisting of many former Confederates, did not want radical republicans voted into office.  Colby, a former black slave was elected to the Georgia State Legislature during reconstruction and Colby testified that the KKK “whipped me a thousand licks more, with sticks and straps that had buckles on the ends of them” (Document B).  The KKK also tried to buy his legislative seat from Colby and Colby testified that “they would pay me $2,500 in cash if I would let another man go to the legislature in my place” (Document B).  The KKK used violent approaches to stop blacks from voting as seen in the picture from Harper’s Weekly where two KKK are holding a gun up to a black man’s head to keep him from voting (Document B).  

By keeping blacks from voting, radical republicans lost votes.  Since radical republicans supported reconstruction, by keeping them from gaining any political power, the KKK was able to help stop reconstruction.  Through keeping blacks from voting and by acting violently upon carpetbaggers and scalawags, the KKK in the South was a main contributor of the end of reconstruction.

               

                In the North, the reconstruction was not a priority, but if the KKK had not been acting violently towards blacks and others supporting reconstruction, the North’s lack of interest would not have been a hindrance to keeping reconstruction going.  The North was not against reconstruction; their focus however was elsewhere.  Instead of being worried about reconstruction, they were worried about the Panic of 1873, an economic crisis, and the corruption in the government (Document C).  

As seen in the picture, Grant, the president in charge during this period of corruption and crisis is submerged headfirst in a barrel (Document C).  He is trying to get to the bottom of the corruption in the government, but while he has his head buried in these issues, he is unaware of what is happening in the country (Document C).  He is unaware of and not worried about reconstruction because he (and other northerners) are distracted by what they believe are more important issues (Document C).  This distraction leads to less support from the north to continue reconstruction.  However, if the KKK in the South was not threatening blacks and trying to end reconstruction, reconstruction would have been able to continue to some degree even with the North’s lack of caring.  One of the largest contributions the North had to ending reconstruction was that the majority of the white population’s expressed their view that black people were “unfitted for the proper exercise of political duties” (Document D).  In the Boston Evening Transcript, there was an article that argued “blacks needed a period of probation and instruction; a period…long enough for the black to have forgotten something of his condition as a slave” (Document D).  The article claimed that black people needed to become educated and wait until they were more civilized and no longer could remember being a slave before being granted any political rights (Document D).  

In the picture printed in Harper’s Weekly, a common magazine at the time, there is an image of black people trying to exercise political duties (Document D).  They are drawn like monkeys and there is clearly chaos which is shown through the fighting (Document D).  This image shows blacks to be incapable of having any political rights.  Holding back black’s political rights in turn held back the reconstruction, however unlike the violence of the KKK it did not cause the reconstruction to completely end.  While the North contributed to the end of reconstruction with its views of blacks and lack of interest, the North’s actions alone would not have caused the end of reconstruction without the violence of the KKK in the south.

                During the 19^th century in the United States, the country faced many problems.  There were social, economic, and political issues.  The government was corrupt, there was an economic crisis, and reconstruction abruptly came to an end.  Blacks were trying to gain careers, as well as political, and other rights.  The North with its own concerns and low opinion of blacks did not continue to support the reconstruction and blacks’ advancement.  While a few Northerners, like carpetbaggers and radical republicans tried to support the reconstruction efforts, the KKK stopped these efforts with the violent actions they took.  While the North contributed to the end of reconstruction, the violence of the KKK in the South caused the reconstruction to eventually be ended by the government with the Compromise of 1877.

Document A: Albion Tourgee, Letter on Ku Klux Klan Activities. New York Tribune, May 1870.

Image: Independent Monitor, September 1, 1868. Alabama Department of Archives and History, Montgomery, Alabama.

Document B: Abram Colby, testimony to a joint House and Senate Committee in 1872.

Image: Harper's Weekly, October 21, 1876.

Document C: Gerald Danzer et al., The Americans, McDougal Littell, 1998.

Image: Harper's Weekly, 1876.

Document D: Heather Cox Richardson, The Death of Reconstruction: Race, Labor and Politics in the Post-Civil War North, 1865-1901. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 2001.

Image: The cover of Harper's Weekly, March 14, 1874.