Imperialism and Industrialism in America

Imperialism and Industrialism in America

Industrialization affected America in so many different ways that we're still is expanding and learning on our industrializing past. It affected the way Americans move and get from place to place [transportation inventions]. It also affected the way Americans lived/live their lives [standard of living boost].

Source 1 - Henry George: He believed that labor saving inventions would reduce the toil of the workers and allow for better working conditions. He believed that we should take the opportunity to bask in all of these new inventions and allow ourselves to work only as hard as we need to, to complete a job, no harder. All of that could be helped with the inventions of the Nineteenth Century.

Source 2 - David A. Wells: He was one of the first men to notice that machines were taking the jobs of workers. He spoke of the fact that people who work in factories are generally taught one task and after that one task is no longer needed, they are, "in measure helpless." He believed that this should be changed.

Source 3 - Andrew Carnegie: Carnegie believed that the transportation system that has been brought up in the US is making many people less isolated. It is almost always good for all. Many machines that are being created "today" are helping the toilers become less and less hard working and allowing them to increase their productivity in most cases. He believed that because of transportation, people who lived in small, rural towns were no longer dependent on that one town.

Treatment of the Workers: Many of the people who lived in the city (, and obviously the workers) believed that everyone in factories worked much too hard. Not very many people admitted it though, because, despite the ideas and feelings of what the people had, the big businesses ran the town. The big businesses believed that if you could save a few bucks to make something less safe, then you were a few bucks richer. They did not care for the people that worked for them and it didn't matter what the working conditions were. Even though this is still relevant in some countries today (as well as parts of the US) it has died down a lot with the FDA regulations and the Unions that have been created since the 1900's. I believe that the people who worked in the factories in the 19th century were very poorly treated and very under paid for the work that they were doing. They should have been treated with dignity, respect, and higher pay since the work they were doing was the real reason behind why all the cities in the US ran.

The Sinking of the Maine

The sinking of the Maine was the United States Navy's second commissioned battleship and the first U.S. Navy ship to be named after the state of Maine. Despite these advances, with her two gun turrets, the maine was out of date by the time she entered service, due to her protracted construction period and changes in the role of ships of her type. The Sinking of the U.S.S. Maine did not cause a war with spain, it only caused suspicion from the government about whether the spanish had anything to do with the sinking, considering that it was in spanish waters at the time of the sinking. The bad thing about sinking the U.S.S. Maine was that this started The Spanish American War. The only pro about the sinking was that the spanish did not blow up the ship, but it was believed for many years that they did blow it up.

Sources:

1. http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/events/spanam/events/maineskg.htm 

2. http://www.pbs.org/crucible/tl10.html

Cool U.S. History Sites to look at

Cool U.S. History Websites To Look At:

1. http://www.ushistory.org

2. http://americanhistory.si.edu

3. http://teachingamericanhistory.org

4. http://www.loc.gov/topics/americanhistory.php

5. http://www.history.com

Progressive Era - The Jungle

1. What qualities did St. Clair believe a person must have to succeed in Packingtown?

St. Clair believed that you could not rise or succeed in Packingtown for doing good work. "If you ever met a man who had risen, you had met a knave." No matter how hard working you were, they would just "speed you up" until you were worn out and then they would toss you out into the gutter.

2. According to the passage, what is the plant owner's main goal?

The plant owner's main goal was to sell as much meat as possible and to get as much money as possible for that meat. This meant using meat that wasn't clean of diseases or using whole calves when sorting out the meat. Sometimes this meant using intestines and entrails of the cows, just to get more meat into the consumers of America.

3. What does St. Clair mean when he says, "there is no place in it where a man counted for anything against a dollar?"

St. Clair meant that if the owners had to get rid of a man because he was not making them enough money or working fast enough for them to make enough money, then he would be fired immediately. The money the owners made valued higher than that of the work done by the men in their factories.

The Governments Regulating of the Meat Industry Today

The government had intervened to try and insure food safety. The USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service promulgated the pathogen reduction hazard analysis critical control point rule in 1996. Roosevelt signed a law regulating foods and drugs on June 30, 1906, which was the same day he signed the Meat Inspection Act. The Pure food and Drug Act regulated food additives and prohibited misleading labeling of food and drugs. The law led to the formation of the FDA. The laws ended up increasing consumer confidence in the food and drugs they purchased, which benefitted the businesses. 

Sources for information: http://www.fda.gov/AboutFDA/WhatWeDo/History/Overviews/ucm056044.htm

Progressive Era

The Jungle-

Parker Tugaw 2nd Period U.S. History

1. What qualities did Sinclair believe a person must have to succeed in Packingtown?

Sinclair believed a person should be determined and hardworking. Otherwise, if you were not doing your best, they would throw you out of your job. And, give the hundreds of other people in line for the job, a chance for it.

2. According to the passage, what is the plant owner's main goal.

To order the bosses to be the pace-makers for this case. The bosses would make the men go faster if they had to, like speed the gang.

3. What does Sinclair mean when he says, "...there was no place in it where a man counted for anything against a dollar....?"

Sinclair means that a man would never rebel against their loss of a paycheck.


Government Regulations Today:

The Federal Meat Inspection Act of 1906 (FMIA) is a United States Congress Act that works to prevent adulterated or misbranded meat and meat products from being sold as food and to ensure that meat and meat products are slaughtered and processed under sanitary conditions. This helped our meat conditions today, now we know that our meat is more fresh to eat. With our environment, people could burn whatever they wanted to. Or use a really bad polluted source outside. Today we have the E.P.A. (Environment Protection Agency). They made a clean air act called the clean air act. The Clean Air Act (CAA) is the comprehensive federal law that regulates air emissions from stationary and mobile sources. Among other things, this law authorizes EPA to establish National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) to protect public health and public welfare and to regulate emissions of hazardous air pollutants. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the U.S. government agency charged with ensuring the safety and efficacy of the medicines available to Americans. The government’s control over medicines has grown in the last hundred years from literally nothing to far-reaching, and now pharmaceuticals are among the most-regulated products in this country. This is how we progressed with pharmaceuticals and our whole world today.