What is the cost of progress? Progressivists like industrialist George Pullman attempted to solve social, and economic issues resulting from the rapid urbanization witnessed during the late 19th century. Pullman’s solution resulted in a workers utopia located just south of Chicago. In the beginning, Pullman was noticed as a successful social experiment, and was even called “The world’s most perfect town.” Despite some successes, Pullman’s company ended in complete failure. Apart from attention to detail, and noble intentions, Pullman’s actions were the biggest contributors to the fall of his community.
Pullman created Pullman City to house his employees. Every dwelling had indoor plumbing, A porch, green space, and a shotgun style house for …show more content…
Some people complained that rent was way too high, and competing cities had much lower rent. He would also charge people if he had workers come to residents houses to do gardening, shoveling, or raking. According to a Pullman resident, “A number of men…will knock at your door and tell you that they have to come whitewash your house. They will not bother you with questions… but they just go in and do it... all charges for repairs… will be DEDUCTED FROM YOUR WAGES next pay day. You would have liked to wait another week… because you wanted to buy a pair of shoes for your boy. The company can’t care about that!” (“Letters from Pullman.” American Studies at the University of Virginia.). Pullman would do anything to get money. So he did not bother making yard work optional, instead he made people pay for it no matter what. He also argued, “The rent prices in Pullman are not high, and renting a home in Pullman, and being employed at Pullman are in no way linked” (“For the Further Benefit of Our People”: George Pullman Answers His Strikers). Which is in no way true. In order to live in pullman you had to be employed there, so Pullman was in-fact lying. Pullman knew he made his employees very angry, but instead of solving problems he would make untrue statements to convince people that we was doing no harm. This worked for a fairly long time, until over 2,500 men quit work to go on
Pullman created Pullman City to house his employees. Every dwelling had indoor plumbing, A porch, green space, and a shotgun style house for …show more content…
Some people complained that rent was way too high, and competing cities had much lower rent. He would also charge people if he had workers come to residents houses to do gardening, shoveling, or raking. According to a Pullman resident, “A number of men…will knock at your door and tell you that they have to come whitewash your house. They will not bother you with questions… but they just go in and do it... all charges for repairs… will be DEDUCTED FROM YOUR WAGES next pay day. You would have liked to wait another week… because you wanted to buy a pair of shoes for your boy. The company can’t care about that!” (“Letters from Pullman.” American Studies at the University of Virginia.). Pullman would do anything to get money. So he did not bother making yard work optional, instead he made people pay for it no matter what. He also argued, “The rent prices in Pullman are not high, and renting a home in Pullman, and being employed at Pullman are in no way linked” (“For the Further Benefit of Our People”: George Pullman Answers His Strikers). Which is in no way true. In order to live in pullman you had to be employed there, so Pullman was in-fact lying. Pullman knew he made his employees very angry, but instead of solving problems he would make untrue statements to convince people that we was doing no harm. This worked for a fairly long time, until over 2,500 men quit work to go on