Essay Sample on Policies and Realities of American Ideals

Introduction

This paper helps to examine the realities and policies that reject and reflect American social and political ideals as associated with race relationships to industrialization and labor. It was evident that there was a variation on the American social and political models especially when manufacturing and energy were concerned. As a result, this led to the implementation of realities and policies which that rejected and reflected on American ideals. During that period the labor union was formed, and they played a role in fighting for the rights of workers. Most of the workers especially those who were from minority groups were overexploited, and thus there was an urgent need for the labor unions to be formed since they comprised of individuals from all race groups and it, therefore, became possible to air their grievances thereby enabling them to work without oppression (Haines, 2019).

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The formation of the labor unions in America to fight for the right of workers began in 1869. The workers union began within the composition of Knight Membership which comprised of skilled and unskilled workers who were industrial workers. This allowed the workers who had been mainly farmers to fit in the industrial revolution period as most of them sought jobs in mines, mills, and factories and return this enhanced growth of the industrial economy (Reich, 2015). It was the first time in American history when most people stopped working as farmers and began to work for wages.

Monopoly policies were adopted during the industrial revolution, and these allowed the government to control the way businesses were being conducted. Hence, the price of goods and services were set. Also, the wages of workers were kept low since the owners of industries desired to continue making more profit even if it meant undermining the workers (Haines, 2019). As shown when the workers presented their oppression cases, the owners of the industries who were wealthy often bribed the judges and congress members to side with their views concerning the disputes. Through such acts, it was possible for the owners of businesses to overpower the individual workers who had complained about ill-treatment comfortably.

The realities of forming a labor union helped to bring reconciliation between individual workers and large businesses to enhance the improvement of the workers working conditions. Workers joined together to be in a position to bargain with their employers (Reich, 2015). In this case, the labor unions allowed the workers to seek for shorter working hours, recognition of their union, higher wages, and improved working conditions.

In most cases, the aspect of labor unions entailed workers ability to strike. The strike which was conducted by individuals from all races helped to protect the rights of workers. The destructions which were associated with strikes forced the employers to give attention to the issues which were being presented by the workers. The attacks were also significant because they helped in raising the alarm concerning the struggles that workers were experiencing while carrying out various industries activities. However, employers utilized multiple strategies to combat workers strikes. The plan involved hiring new workers as well as firing those workers who participated in the attack. Additionally, they could also hire workers for a short time until the worker's strike was over.

In particular, the early labor organizations showed workers discrimination in their membership. Initially, Knights membership was restricted to the white men and skilled laborers. But later on, the semi-skilled and unskilled workers were also incorporated in the union. Nevertheless, the women, African Americans, and Immigrants were also invited to be members of the union. These facilitated unity of workers and they could move with one objective. Due to the diverse races which were incorporated in the union, other different workers like those working in the in the railroad supported activities of the industrial workers union. Unity of workers resulted in successful strikes such as the one which happened in 1886 that comprised 700,000 workers from different races nationally.

Later on, American labor federation was formed. The union consisted mainly of skilled workers. It was through this union that craft unions were brought together. These included union of workers who were stonemasons, carpenters and printers were brought together. Although the labor movement supported workers to air their grievances, the activities of the union were not fully embraced between 1881 and 1900. As a result, the change made very little progress. As presented, the membership of workers in the union was only thirty percent of the total workers. The force of labor unions was felt in the middle of the twentieth century since the labor unions were more organized and a large percentage of workers had joined the labor movement.

Industrial revolution changes Americans political, social and economic life. The culture of Americans was changed, and the difference had an impact on the history of Americans. Before the industrial revolution, most of the workers in America were serving in the agrarian economy, and they could generate wealth by engaging in simple economic activities such as selling fur, tobacco, and fish. Thus, with the industrial revolution, the capitalist economy was introduced. The labor principle was introduced as different industries sprout out. Introduction of wages marked a great technique whereby industrialists were able to accumulate more wealth in their hands. Those individuals who had more natural resources were better positioned to a more significant economic advantage since the internal market of consumers was quite large (Katz et al., 2017).

The aspect of the industrial revolution resulted in political repercussions. In this case, the economic power of the United States rose, and this affected the relationship between modern progress and the traditional culture. Nevertheless, there existed a conflict in the passage of legislation which was labor related. It was indicated that there was a civil war which erupted between the industrial society and the agrarian society which disagreed on slave labor issues (Araujo, 2018). At this period, those employees who got paid well stirred the economy of consumers.

All in all, there were international repercussions which were associated with the expansion of the American economy. There was territorial growth which as well as opened the relationship between Japan and America. In the same manner, those workers who used to work in urban areas became the political class which had the voice. This group of people, therefore, encouraged the passing of legislation like the Fair Labor Act of 1938.

Socially, the presence of a class of entrepreneurs that believed in hard work, technology and progress contributed to the Americans ideals. This class of people allowed the relationship between protestant work ethic and other sectors of Protestants to exist. Thus, those who were dissenters did not have fit anywhere within society, and they often found themselves neglected by other people (Katz et al., 2017). On the contrary, although those who belonged to different sects were ignored, they were regarded as fellow Protestants to some extent.

Most importantly, due to the industrial revolution, the businessmen and industrialist managed to move forward to the class of gentry and nobility. On the other hand, those individuals who were ordinary workers managed to find increased working opportunities as they secured employment in different mills and factories (Russell, 2017). Although the profession was based on strict conditions of working which entailed long working hours where the workers had to keep the pace of working machines. Although the conditions were hard, the industrial revolution took place with the help of existing workers.

Conclusion

Overall, the working conditions were not favorable since the environments were dirty and there was the possibility of disease outbreaks. The waste products from industries were poorly disposed and this increased chances of air, water, and land pollution something that quickly led to diseases (Russell, 2017). On the other hand, child labor was evident during the era since there was a shortage of workers to work in farms and industries. Thus, most children were found working harder to be able to please their employers. In the same manner, the morals of Americans were eroded. In this case, the culture which was initially observed were no longer valued since the society members became more focused on generating more and more income (Russell, 2017). Thus issues of; theft, immorality and drug abuse were evident in most of the regions. In conclusion, the various realities and policies that were related to labor and industrialization profoundly affected the Americans social and political ideals.

References

Araujo, B. M. (2018). Labour provisions in EU and US mega-regional trade agreements: rhetoric and reality. International & Comparative Law Quarterly, 67(1), 233-253.

Haines, M. R. (2019). Inequality among Industrial Workers in the Late 19th Century United States. Economics & Human Biology.

Katz, A. S., Zerger, S., & Hwang, S. W. (2017). Housing First the conversation: Discourse, policy and the limits of the possible. Critical Public Health, 27(1), 139-147.

Reich, M. (2015). The ups and downs of minimum wage policy: The fair labor standards act in historical perspective. Industrial Relations: A Journal of Economy and Society, 54(4), 538-546.

Russell, J. W. (2017). Double standard: social policy in Europe and the United States. Rowman & Littlefield.