Industrial Age Dbq

The Industrial Age of America was both a time of great prosperity and great distress. Many perished under the heavy weight of poverty while some benefited and prospered through achievements such as the railroads that crossed the states. Although many may have differentiating viewpoints on this period of time, one cannot truly be certain whether or not this era was a time of progress for Americans without first looking at both the positives and negatives that impacted this nation. The Industrial Age of America was a time for many positive changes in society. The end of the Civil War encouraged production. This mass production was made possible due to the development of machines and factories, which brought on great prosperity for the middle

True, the middle and upper classes prospered, but the lower class suffered greatly. The poor had little to no food, especially none that had been properly handled in the factories. Children and adults alike had to work long, laborious hours in, more than likely, rather dangerous situations such as glass-making, machinery, unsanitary fertilizer-producing, and unclean food-processing. This model of superiority of the middle and upper classes over the lower class is known as Social Darwinism, Darwin’s belief that only the strong can survive (or in this case

The blood was pounding in his brain like an engine's throbbing; there was a frightful pain in the top of his skull, and he could hardly control his hands. Still, with the memory of his four months' siege behind him, he fought on, in a frenzy of determination; and half an hour later he began to vomit--he vomited until it seemed as if his inwards must be torn into shreds. A man could get used to the fertilizer mill, the boss had said, if he would make up his mind to it; but Jurgis now began to see that it was a question of making up his stomach.”