Industrialization In The Gilded Age

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In a time when American industrialism was rising, and a shift from isolationism to imperialism occurred within American society. It is in this context that industrialization would grow to impact farmers and industrial workers. Two significant ways that farmers and industrial workers responded to industrialization in the Gilded Age by attempting to unionize and forming political parties to further their interests. One significant way that farmers and industrial workers responded to industrialization in the Gilded Age was attempting to unionize. Industrial workers attempted to unionize as a response to pay cuts and dangerous working conditions. In order to maximize profits many industrial companies such as Carnegie Steel, lowered wages for…show more content…
Industrialization connected the east to the west through the use of railroad development, drastically improving infrastructure and reducing travel time. Railroad tycoons like Cornelius Vanderbilt were able to control fare prices on their trains. This greatly impacted farmers in the west that relied on the railroads to transport their crop to the densely populated east. In an attempt to help western farmers, President Abraham Lincoln created the Department of Agriculture, so the farmers would be more knowledgeable about earning a profit from agriculture. The Granger movement was created by the Department of Agriculture, and soon became a tool for farmers to join together in order to make be able to make larger purchases. The Granger movement would be replaced by the Farmer’s Association. The Farmer’s association was focused on national politics to benefit farmers.The group would be divided between the south and the west, and also by race. The Farmer’s Association pushed for legislation that would limit the power that railroad companies had, and some would even push for complete nationalization of the railroads, and the use of silver as a currency. The Farmers would eventually begin to push for a graduated income tax, so the rich would have to pay more in taxes then the poor. This graduated income tax would become a reality, but only after the dissolving of the populist party. The Farmer’s association would eventually be absorbed into the larger Populist party that also reached out to industrial workers. In 1896 the Populist party nominated William Jennings Bryan as their candidate for the Presidency. Bryan would lose to the monied interest backed candidate William Mckinley. (Module 6.1.4)The Populists primary campaign goal was the implementation of silver coinage to America, but the implementation

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