Important because they could dominate an industry and

Important Because: they could dominate an industry and make unfair costs for the public
● revealed, and they could do no comparitive shoppinghe vastly changing American economy
Populist Party
Who: “people’s party”, poor white cotton farmers -- came after the Farmers Alliance failed to
have political success.
What: short lived political party in the united states, gained power in the states but never
nationally
When: established in
1891
How: represented a radical form of farming, hostility to banks, railroads, elites
Why: agrarian unrest in response to low farming prices in the south
Important Because: It opposed the growing belief of industrialism ; tried to unite all the
disadvantaged as a political voice, was a tough group to satisfy because of such opposing
views between farmers and poor industrial workers.
Essay Questions
One of the following essay questions will be on the exam. I will choose which question will be
on the exam. 70 points
1.
Businessmen and workers were challenged by the chaotic economy and
unregulated marketplace of the late-nineteenth century. They all chose various
forms of organization to cope with the unpredictable and, sometimes, harsh
realities of industrial capitalism. Write an essay about the difficulties that
businessmen and workers experienced. Your essay should
(1) describe and explain the hardships of these two groups and
(2) describe and evaluate ways that these two groups organized to deal with
problems

(3) explain what each group (businessmen and workers) hoped to accomplish
and
(4) why the strategies they pursued were (or were not) successful.
--> Be sure that your answer includes specific examples and makes use of
pertinent lectures and assigned readings.
Points to cover:
for (1) describe and explain the hardships of these two groups (businessmen and workers)
●
Hardships for workers (mainly for unskilled. however, small portion of skilled workers
were being replaced by machines).
○
`Long hours, low wages, no bargaining power
■
No minimum wages, chronic financial instability
■
“Wage Slavery” Basically the workers felt that their employers owned them
since their livelihood depended on their wage. The employer knew that the employee needed
the job so they could get away with lax safety standards, and with paying very little because
they knew someone would need the work. Usually their wages weren't enough to support their
families, this led to involve the whole family in fa ??????
●
Good example of this
■
^^^^Southern argument against Northern treatment of workers. Are “slaves” to
their wages. No one would give aid to those who couldn’t work. Southerners would take care of
their slaves so that they could continue to work. Bullet below has more info.
○
No life insurance or sick leave
■
If sick or hurt, they have no income
■
Rate of injuries in workplace was shocking
○
people would die ex. Railroad workers,
●
many of them were killed on the job or badly hurt.