Homestead Essay

However, others point to the violence and death leading to the final outcome as factors that outweigh any economic benefits. Twelve deaths are believed to be twelve too many. For the sake of taking a stand against Carnegie Steel, violence ensued and lives were lost. The Homestead Strike did, however, have positive outcomes. It showed how strong the relationship between government and business was and clearly demonstrated the lack of influence labor unions would have without public support. As the AA, unskilled workers, and the people of the town aligned their interests, they were able to defeat a force of Pinkertons as well as temporarily halt the production of Carnegie Steel. Labor unions realized that a joint effort between workers would have a significant impact on corporations. The Homestead Strike influenced future generations of workers, as the battle between business and laborers demonstrated the power of allied forces. Workers who faced poor treatment organized themselves in unions to gain a voice. With a constant and united effort from the unions to gain recognition, the government eventually passed Federal Labor Laws, reforming the unfair conditions of workers. The loss of life is difficult to justify but for those who put their lives on the line, the Homestead Strike made a difference, as it engendered the jurisdiction of labor unions and public sentiment that shaped the way society exists

The Carnegie Steel Company was a successful factory, which employed many hundred of workers. Andrew Carnegie, who was the owner of the company, wanted a large successful business, which he had achieved already, but he was always looking for ways to save and make more money. By 1892, unions had been formed

Carnegie and Frick represented the corporations looking to take advantage of the poor that were unable to empathize with ordinary citizen. However, surprisingly, the author reveals that both Carnegie and Frick came from humble backgrounds. Considering their mass exploitation of the immigrant worker and their ruthless fights against any form of workers union, they had to struggle to reach their goals. However, their own life experiences gave them no sympathy towards their fellow man, which is a blatant example of the ugly side of capitalism that Finn has described (1). The Homestead mill was the product of Carnegie’s first success in the steel mill business. It quickly became the most famous steel mill in America. It was famous for producing the steel used for America’s first skyscrapers and suspension bridges. However, the conditions were abysmal. It was reported that workers slept in the alleys behind the mills, and that there was no sewage system. Instead, trenches were used that would stagnate in the rain. These terrible conditions came on top of a job that paid 14 cents an

The Homestead steel mill was located in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and was owned by Andrew Carnegie. The conditions were not very safe. One worker stated “...Sometimes the slag falls on the workmen from the roadway up there.”. The employees worked 12 hours a day and most of them only got paid $1.40. Workers were not happy with these conditions and formed a strike. Carnegie was not present during this strike, as he was in Scotland. He trusted in the

During this time America saw some of its most rapid increase of immigration and population, not to mention westward expansion. Between 1880 and 1900 many cities grew in the hundreds of thousands, making work, shelter, and life a little more competitive. Much of this was

The “rags to riches” story is a term of reverence respecting the few in society who sacrificed the little they had and emerged successful. These doctors, lawyers, entrepreneurs, researchers, and other professionals inspire people of all socioeconomic levels by transforming nothing into something. Jay-Z, George Soros, Steve Jobs – these are names culture holds with great respect. One “rags to riches” story not many Americans have heard of pushes the limits of mental capacity. This man followed the poor-to-rich path and succeeded to such high degree that he, in turn, defined the very essence of this characteristic. Once a poor boy, Andrew Carnegie transformed the limited resources available to him into tools that aided his journey in becoming one of the richest, most successful men in all of history. Carnegie began his journey as an immigrant to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania from Scotland. His family sought work, as their former weaving business had been destroyed by the Industrial Revolution (“Andrew Carnegie” American Experience). This experience as a poor worker created the drive that led him to become one of the wealthiest men of all time through his massive steel company, the Carnegie Steel Company. In conjunction with his economic success, the tycoon used the fruits of his leadership in the steel industry to become the “father of American philanthropy” (“Meet Andrew Carnegie”). As accomplished the man became, the

The United States grew at a dramatic rate between the years 1880 and 1900, within the cities. U.S. cities grew by approximately 15 million people in the two decades before 1900. Many historians claim that most of the population growth was due to the expansion of industry. It is also believed that the majority of the population explosion was immigrants that were arriving from all over the world. A good amount of people from the rural areas of America also moved to the cities during this period in the search of work. Between 1880 and 1890, it is suggested that almost 40 percent of the townships in the United States lost population because of migration.

Chicago from the1920s through the 1940s was the melting pot of America, with its multitude of vastly different people and different types of housing and living conditions. Around the early 1920s in Chicago, 80 percent of the undeveloped city were immigrants from Europe and their children. A majority of the houses in Chicago in the 1920s were set up to improve immigrants’ living conditions. These houses were often large complexes in which immigrants lived together in and were provided meals and tutoring in English. After World War I ended in 1918, many people moved from small rural communities in the Midwest to Chicago. This resulted in the construction of many large apartment buildings in place of old townhouses. In large cities like Chicago,

Chicago in the 1920s was a turning point for the development of ethnic neighborhoods. After the opening of the first rail connection from New York to Chicago in the 1840s, immigration sky rocketed from that point on. Majority of the immigrants to Chicago were Europeans. The Irish, Italians, eastern European Jews, Germans, and Mexicans were among the most common ethnicities to reside in Chicago. These groups made up the greater part of Chicago. The sudden increase in immigration to Chicago in the 1920s soon led to an even further distinguished separation of ethnicities in neighborhoods. The overall development of these neighborhoods deeply impacted how Chicago is sectioned off nowadays. Without these ethnicities immigrating to Chicago

The working conditions of the new arrivals were hardly any better, as employees of factories were often overworked, underpaid, and penned up in dangerous conditions. Perhaps the horrors of these conditions can be highlighted by the devastating 1911 fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory in New York City. Tragically, over one hundred young women lost their lives in the fire, as there was no way to get out, and the doors were locked, trapping the women inside. Safety was not the only problem, as workers initially were not given the right to organize into unions, essentially doomed to the repetitive motions of factory operation. This meant that they had no way to protest against child labor, wage slavery, and unhealthily long working hours. Eventually, with their growing clout and ever-present industrial dependence on their labor, workers organized and demanded reform along all aspects of hazardous working conditions.

As a larger number of immigrants began to move to the United States from eastern and southern Europe, cities began to increase. Due to these patterns of global migration, between 1870 and 1900, cities increased by at least eleven million people from these immigrants (p.507). While the idea of a growing city benefits big businesses in hiring low-waged workers, this opportunity for work in large industries opened the flood-gates for multiple waves of immigrants. The first wave, those known as the skilled workers “…criticized the newcomers. One Irish worker complained, ‘There should be a law…to keep all the Italians from comin’ in and takin’ the bread out of the mouth of honest people’” (American

1. The American city was changed drastically in the first half of the 20th century with the beginnings of the industrial revolution and the ongoing flow of foreigners into an already crowded United States.

Initially, the United States received about sixty percent of the world 's immigrants from 1820 to 1930. Population expansion in developed areas of the world, improved methods of transportation, and America 's desire to populate available space were all factors for this occurrence. Through the nineteenth century, the United States was in the midst of agricultural, and industrial expansion. The aspiration for inexpensive, unskilled labor and the profits made from importing immigrants fueled the movement. Immigrants were largely responsible for the rapid development of the country and the economy, their high birth rates increased the U.S. population.

Shortly after the revolutionary war, the small town of Pittsborough, then renamed Pittsburgh began to develop into a very important center, specializing in trading and industry. The convenience of natural resources and technological advancement has ranked Pittsburgh as one of the leading industrial cities in the United States in the past. Historically, the city of Pittsburgh has created numerous manufacturing plants responsible for producing steel, iron, and other products for the U.S. economy that still exist today. The Encyclopedia Britannica explains Pittsburgh's economic might during this period:

An outburst in growth of America’s big city population, places of 100,000 people or more jumped from about 6 million to 14 million between 1880 and 1900, cities had become a world of newcomers (551). America evolved into a land of factories, corporate enterprise, and industrial worker and, the surge in immigration supplied their workers. In the latter half of the 19th century, continued industrialization and urbanization sparked an increasing demand for a larger and cheaper labor force. The country's transformation from a rural agricultural society into an urban industrial nation attracted immigrants worldwide. As free land and free labor disappeared and as capitalists dominated the economy, dramatic social, political, and economic