Chants Democratic, by Sean Wilentz examined the emergence of New York’s labor class during the Jacksonian era and in essence revealed Artisan Republicanism. Wilentz offered a unique perspective in his historical analysis of the social and political labor histories during 1788 through 1850. Wilentz stressed the importance of the republicanism ideology in the creation of a working class that was instrumental in a pre-industrial New York. The author stressed the significance in both the political histories and social histories of the early nineteenth century by incorporating political ideologies and labor union descriptions. He further integrated these insights by means of articulating the social working conditions and lives of small masters, journeymen, and artisans to show their respective importance to the creation of the working class scruples. Chants Democratic iterated not only on the formation of the labor class in America, but also illuminated the changes within this new social class by exploring how antebellum New York’s population began to live and think. Wilentz maintained that the completion of the Erie Canal and the market revolutions of the nineteenth century, together, with a strong republican ideology altered the class McGuire 2 consciousness of artisans in New York City during the Jacksonian period. (pp. 14 & 25) The pre-industrial revolutions of the 1800s provided many avenues of employment for masters, journeymen, and laborers; however, the transformation of a merchant capitalist economy provided for many masters to subdivide labor. (pp. 113) Contracted work caused a rift in the structure of the old artisanal class. Masters no longer needed to employ apprentices since they hired out separate tradesmen for the... ... middle of paper ... ... and movements, pertaining to the rise of the working class, led to an excessive analysis of the evidence within the pages of Chants Democratic. At times Wilentz’s scrutiny of the trade unions and many other pretentious accounts of the Jacksonian era led the author’s prose to become silted to the reader. In lieu to the disarray of evidence, provided by Wilentz to give application to his arguments on the rise of the labor class; the primary thesis became lost. This leads Chants Democratic to be a great hindrance for the basic student, yet is an excellent source for someone engaged in researching the rise of a working class in American history. Works Cited Wilentz, Sean. Chants Democratic: New York City and the Rise of the American Working Class, 1788-1850. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004. xvii + 396pp. Index, appendix, bibliographical essay, illustrations
Paul E. Johnson’s classic, A Shopkeeper’s Millennium: Society and Revivals in Rochester, New York, 1815-1837, describes the city of Rochester, New York on the cusp of Charles Finney’s revival. Johnson sets out to “trace the social origins of revival religion”, by considering all levels of the Rochester society, including economy, domestic life and politics, the audience sees how the city functions in the face of modernization and social change (12). Toward the end of his text, Johnson depicts the revival itself and all the change it brought to Rochester. One particular consequence, as Johnson states, is the establishment of Evangelicalism in American societal structure and the eventual development of the Whig party. Johnson concludes his book having proven that there is a strong “relationship between religion and political behavior” (135). Through the Evangelical influence the Whig party developed, calling for temperance, observance of the Sabbath and overall moral reform. However, those untouched by revival began to stand at odds to such moral control. Soon differing ideologies evolved, those of the Protestants and workmen, eventually culminating into two distinct parties: the Whig and Democratic parties. This paper will look at examples from Rochester to suggest the foundations for the divisions between the parties: how they view moral concerns and their ways of governing these issues, finally, asserting that such divisions still affect American politics today.
Sam Patch’s father, who was a drunkard, exhausted all his family fortune, and in 1807 the Patches moved to the mill village of Pawtucket. This was a climactic moment in their history because it marked their passage out of the family economy and into the labor market. This caused the Patches to be dependent on factory owners for a job. Factory spinners, including Sam Patch, were people with a lot of pride and dignity. Before 1820, most spinners in New England mills were emigrants from the factory towns of Lancashire England. They were veterans who knew that their skills were essential, and they commanded respect (Johnson 23). Industrialization brought with it urbanization or city growth but it had an unintended consequence of creating massive wealth gaps between the rich people and the working class people.
In the 1830s, clerks were adolescent boys who traveled to New York to learn the business trade. Most clerks came from middle-class families who could not spare the expense to send all of their sons to college but could afford to release them into the world of work. The young boys clerked in assorted commercial businesses and shops “earning at most $4 per week” (Cohen, 111) and accumulated several hundred dollars a year. Clerks were aspiring to become journeymen who earned “$10 to $12 a week” (Cohen, 111) and possibly have their own shop or mercantile business one day. “By day they penned letters, measured cloth, swept stores, sold to customers, or perhaps kept the books” and by night the experienced their newfound independence on the city streets and in its saloons and brothels.
"American Rhetoric: John L. Lewis - Labor and the Nation. American Rhetoric. Web. 9 May 2014.
Despite being celebrated for its industrial achievements, the very foundation by which society was predicated on in the Gilded Age crumbled as labor unrest grew. This sense of discontent on the part of laborers is demonstrated through the Haymarket Affair of 1866. Among those tried for the crime was August Spies, who in his “Address of August Spies,” compromises his own life by persistently undermining the legitimacy of the State to emphasize the determination of the collective for which he views himself as a “representative.” In his attempt to illuminate the injustices of the State and foreshadow the unremitting turmoil that will emerge with his murder, Spies simultaneously showcases the divisions within society at the time. Consequently, because it is a product of its time period, the “Address of August Spies” can be used not only as a means of understanding the Haymarket Affair but the dynamics of society as a whole.
This book definitely gave an insight into American history which was I did not possess before reading it. I always had the idea in my head that the Socialist movement of the early 20th century was not very radical. This book radically changed my views on this point. After reading it I now see exactly how revolutionary the ideas were that Debs was promoting at this time. This book also conveyed to me the extreme importance of the unions and Labor movement in politics during this time period. Unions definitely played a primary role and I learned how politicians must court the labor unions very carefully in order to gain their massive amount of very crucial votes. Salvatore did an excellent job at conveying exactly how important unions were at this time in American history. Given Debs important role in unions at the time in this book his role in American History is emphasized and clearly conveyed. Until reading this I had not realized exactly how important Debs was as a figure in American history both as a Socialist leader and Labor leader.
The era that marked the end of civil war and the beginning of the twentieth century in the united states of America was coupled with enormous economic and industrial developments that attracted diverse views and different arguments on what exactly acquisition of wealth implied on the social classes in the society. It was during this time that the Marxist and those who embraced his ideologies came out strongly to argue their position on what industrial revolution should imply in an economic world like America. In fact, there was a rapid rise in the gross national product of the United States between 1874 and 1883. This actually sparked remarkable consequences on the political, social and economic impacts. In fact, the social rejoinder to industrialization had extensive consequences on the American society. This led to the emergence of social reform movements to discourse on the needs of the industrialized society. Various theories were developed to rationalize the widening gap between the rich and the poor. Various reformers like Andrew Carnegie, Henry George and William Graham Sumner perceived the view on the obligation of the wealthy differently. This paper seeks to address on the different views held by these prominent people during this time of historical transformations.
Late eighteenth century and early nineteenth century were the years of achievement, the years of one huge reform, the years that shaped the present day in so many ways. The present day industrial workers owe their stable life, pleasant working conditions, and a variety of insurances to nothing else but these fifty four years. The struggling lives of industrial proletariat (thesis), their desire for improvement (antithesis), and the emergence of the welfare state, political democracy, trading unions, and social equality (synthesis) skillfully describe the picture of the events happening in those days.
5. Perry, Elisabeth Israels, and Karen Manners Smith. The Gilded Age and Progressive Era: a student companion. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2006. Print.
Voices of the America Revolution. Sherwin School / Think Quest, n.d. Web. 3 Oct. 2011. .
In 1750 people would work depending on what they were good at. For example, someone who was good at making shoes would be a shoemaker. In 1850 the alienation of labor took these skills away from people because they would do a simple task in a factory such as pulling a lever.
O’Donnell who was with his company for eleven years, would lose their jobs to a machine who could do the job quicker or to a worker who would work for a lower wage, like young boys or immigrants. O’Donnell described how men would gather to be picked for work in the mill and the men with young boys to serve as “back-boys” always got picked first because they could do the work faster and the young boys worked for $.30 or $.40 a day as opposed to the $1.50 O’Donnell usual took home for a day’s work. He also described how it didn’t take a skilled worker like himself to operate the new ring-spinners that expedited the cotton spinning process. But skilled workers and laborers weren’t the only ones who were “under the plating” of the Gilded Age. In Document 19-2, women described the struggles of working as domestic servants. Many women went to work during the late 19th century to help out their families in this time of financial anguish. Many took up jobs as domestic
The late 19th century was a time where cities in the United States experienced dramatic growth. The increase in population during this time was a result of the expanding commercial aspects. Migrant immigrants from various parts of the world accounted for an additional 15 million civilians among townships, cities and bureaus in the United States. Industrial America, as this time period is often referred to, was owed the radical change of the nation. The mass influx of people had their demands, which helped the boom of music, technology, and motor vehicles. With all the advancements occurring so rapidly in The States, important issues still lingered and were addressed throughout the lifetime of a woman named Jane Addams. Throughout this paper
Montgomery, David. The Fall of the House of Labor: The Workplace, the State, and American Labor Activism, 1865-1925. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1987.
The changes accompany the transition from one epoch to another. In the late nineteenth century labor has become a commodity to the merchants, and the formation of a new mode of production has risen which gave rise to a capitalist society. There is a new class distinction between the laborer and those who owned the means of production.