Laissez Faire And Social Darwinism

In 1892, corporations and business’ were booming due to recent transitions into an industrial society. The transcontinental railroad was allowing nationwide interaction and corporations were ascending. With the ideology of laissez-faire and social Darwinism, the government was not intervening with any inequalities of the time. Business’ were taking complete advantage and workers suffered severely long work days with little profit. Besides few, farmers were struggling due to high tariffs, crop prices dropping, and money shortages. Those in the lower end of society were feeling hopeless. The rich acquired all that they could, and the cost of living was impossible for some to keep up with. Finally, when the union declined the increased production …show more content…
The government not involving in the highs and lows of society is what led to this chaotic event. With business’ solely concerned with corporations profiting by over 100% in the sake of society, workers were angered. The government abiding to the ideology of laissez-faire meaning not taking control of this situation allowed for this severe inequality to continue. Finally, the strikes broke out. Social Darwinism and laissez-faire is what allowed the economy and specifically workers to fall beyond repair. Change was desperately needed which would involve the government intervening. This strike clearly symbolizes the growing frustrations between labor and management. The workers were taken advantage of and ripped apart by management who was greedy and selfish. This strike screams frustration because the workers just could not do it any longer. They were simply unable to keep up with the inequality which would be extremely frustrating. After so long of dealing with managements greed and the attempted break, their frustration was excruciatingly high. The workers and lower class had absolutely no say in how management was robbing them. The workers knew they deserved acceptable work hours, pay that would allow to live, job security, and more. An influential leader in the mill, Thomas Williamson, was on the Advisory Committee while the strike took place. Williamson believed the …show more content…
On the contrary, management believed they had the power to short these rights because it was their business. They were continuing to make money and it was viewed as success to the owners. To reinforce the ideology of laissez faire, the prosperous will succeed while the incapable plummet, which is exactly what was happening. The Homestead Lockout and Strike occurred during America’s transition into an industrial society. The outcome of this strike affected working conditions greatly over the course of the next century. When the strike lost momentum and the union eventually broke, Carnegie steel quickly took advantage of their win and instituted longer work days with less pay. . Some consequences of this strike can still be seen today in America’s businesses such as workers’ working very hard for their pay and not receiving an adequate earning. According to pbsu.edu, “Dan Kinney, once a machinist and then a roller at the Braddock Works, told of the relation between hard work and mechanical improvements: ‘This mill has not been changed. The roller 's work is the same as it was thirty years ago…The output has greatly increased, but the work per ton has not proportionately decreased. In most departments the men are working much harder today than they were ten years ago and wages have