Industrialization DBQ

Words: 832
Pages: 4

In the time period after the civil war and the reconstruction, big business began to take over America. Corporations and monopolies grew in number, size, and influence. Industrialization helped advance technology which in turn helped big businesses. Big business dominated all aspects of life including the economy, politics, and therefore led to the responses of americans during the gilded age. During the gilded age, big business had a direct correlation with the country’s economy. Industrialization was a key factor in advancing technology which aided big businesses. Agricultural innovations helped lower food prices which helped raise the economy (Doc A). However, falling prices enraged the farmers, who in turn supported the subtreasury plan …show more content…
While big business provided job opportunities they also hindered americans. Monopolists often took small stores out of business with practices like horizontal and vertical integration (Doc H). Rockefeller and Carnegie used these techniques to expand their monopolies while taking out the competition. Many farmers and small business owners were not happy about big corporations taking over and thought the government should help protect them from the monopolies. When the government failed to assist these people, the populist party appeared which helped promote the people’s problems in an effort to see them solved. The people’s party wanted to reconstruct the government and give more power to plain people (Doc F). Also, the opportunities americans received from jobs like factories were overshadowed by the horrible conditions that came with factory jobs. Factory workers had to work long hours each day in horrible working conditions with no protection from bosses. People endured these conditions until they finally had enough and demanded change. The laborers wanted shorter work days and to have basic human rights (Doc G). The knights of labor aided in helping protest the new demands of the people. By the end of the gilded age, people had had enough of big business. To conclude, big business impacted americans through opportunities in labor, industrialization, and monopolization. Americans then responded to these corporations through powerful organizations which helped assist the people in fighting the government in big