GILDED AGE COMPARISON
Please compare the Gilded Age to society today.
What similarities do you see? (What is still the same?)
What differences do you see? (How have we changed?)
What lessons did we (as Americans) learn from the Gilded Age and Progressive Era? Explain.
What lessons do we (as Americans) still have yet to learn from the Gilded Age and Progressive Era? Explain.
To answer the question, simply click on the comment button below the entry. Be sure that you answer each component of the question completely. Do just simply say that I agree with so and so. I want to read YOUR comments. Be sure to provide examples for each. And be creative, really think about it and try to make the connections. Have fun and I look forward to reading your answers.
History Quotes
We can learn from history how past generations thought and acted, how they responded to the demands of their time and how they solved their problems. We can learn by analogy, not by example, for our circumstances will always be different than theirs were. The main thing history can teach us is that human actions have consequences and that certain choices, once made, cannot be undone. They foreclose the possibility of making other choices and thus they determine future events.
-Gerda Lerner
History, we can confidently assert, is useful in the sense that art and music, poetry and flowers, religion and philosophy are useful. Without it -- as with these -- life would be poorer and meaner; without it we should be denied some of those intellectual and moral experiences which give meaning and richness to life. Surely it is no accident that the study of history has been the solace of many of the noblest minds of every generation.
-Henry Steele Commager
Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation.
-Robert F. Kennedy
23 comments:
We learned that in the progressive era there was very little regulations for businesses back in that time. Also that all factories were unsafe and not sanitary. Like with the Jungle.
We have not learned alot about how bad the wages were back then or about the strict rules yet.
We have learned that in the Progressive Era the working conditions were very harsh. The space was crowded, there were many people in a room at one time. The whole workplace was unsanitary, it was always dirty, and rarely cleaned. The wages were very low, as low as six or seven dollars a week in some places. The laborers worked long, hard hours, even though they had a very small amount of pay. There were few or no fire escapes in the working building, in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, for example, about a third of the women working there died due to no fire escapes, therefore, very few safety precautions were taken.
We have not yet learned about how young some of the children were who worked there. We know that kids did work there, but we don't know how young they really were, or how much they got paid.
In the Progressive Era we learned how misserable the working conditions were. There was no heat, no airconditioning and it was very crowded. So crowded that everyone was pretty much touching. It was unsanintary too so people got sick easily. The wages were very low like about six dollars. They worked long days for almost no pay. There were no fire exscapes, no sprinklers and no alarms to tell when there is a fire.
We havent learned about the children that worked there yet. All i know is that kids did work there but not how old or how much they got paid.
1. Today,there are still some unfair work conditions for people and sweatshops are still around the globe.Some differences are that many saftey inspections must now be passed by the businesses. Also, there is now benifits given by most jobs for the workers.
2.We learned about the unsafe and unsanitary work conditions that were in the factories. We also learned that if you got injured or sick, you would just be fired and someone would take your place rather than the factory paying for you being sick.
3. today we still have to learn that there are some workers that are not being treated fairly such as the sweatshops around the globe.
Were we supposed to answer the first two questions? I didn't yet. But here is my answer anyways.
Some things that haven't changed since the Gilded Age are that in some places people still don't get paid very much. Also, in some businesses, workers have to work in unsanitary places, or sweatshops. There aren't many places that don't have air conditioning and/or heat, but there are a few still out there.
There are many differences in the workforce from the Gilded Age to now. A few examples would be; in most workplaces the rooms are clean and safe, not dirty and sickness-prone. Another thing that has changed over the years is the amount of space someone has to do their work, in most workplaces each individual has their own office, or shares an office with only a few other people, nothing like a sweatshop. In the majority of workplaces there us Air Conditioning and/or heat depending on the temperatures where that business is located.
Be sure to answer all components of the question. You should be incorporating elements from your out of class readings and the study guides. Things like Boss Tweed, political corruption, child labor, etc. all of that is included in your readings. Also refer back to our in-class powerpoint.
There were many things we learned from the Gilded Age and Progressive Era. Our factories are much more safe now, equiped with emergency exits on every floor. Also, people now have medical insurance paid by the company and if they get hurt or fall ill they get paid leave. For most factories, they use machines to make the products which eliminates cramped work spaces. Another thing we learned from those times is that people who are doing all of the manual work deserve to get paid better and more fair wages.
Though there are many things we did learn from the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, there are some things we just either havn't gotten to or don't care about. There are still sweat shops around the world which the conditions arn't much different from back then. Hardly any work space, low pay, and a high injury or sickness rate.
1. Some similarities I see between the Gilded Age and today are the working conditions. There were many unsafe factories, called sweatshops. These factories had long hours for workers, very low pay, and there was no workers compensation. Sweatshops often didn't have many (or any) fire escapes, people were usually cramped together, and they weren't safe to work at, because you could get injured easily. There are still some sweatshops that are going on today. Some companies with sweatshops are Ann Taylor, Abercrombie & Fitch, Eddie Bauer, Banana Republic, J. Crew, Lord and Tayler, The Gap, and Walmart. The companies that these companies own use sweatshops, too. I know as a fact that Abercrombie owns Hollister and Gilly Hicks. The Gap owns Old Navy, also.
2. Some differences I see from the Gilded Age society to today are that there aren't as many sweatshops and many companies have workers compensation. Most factories are now inspected to make sure they are safe and healthy (for the workers and the people buying products). There was lots of child labor in the Gilded Age, too. Laws have been passed against child labor, so it doesn't happen in America today.
3. Some lessons we learned from the Gilded Age and Progressive Era are to have good working conditions. We have changed many factories so that they have fire escapes, enough room for workers, and have a safer and healthier working environment. The meat industry has changed greatly. There have been laws passed for meat inspection and how meat is processed.
4. Some lessons that we still have to learn from the Gilded Age and Progressive Era are to have fair pay. Often, farmers in the South can pay some workers that are immigrants unfairly, since the workers don't know what their pay should be. Women are still paid smaller amounts than men, even if they have the same job and do the some amount of work.
Most things from the Gilded Age have improved now, but some companies still use the same methods. The walmart chains still have the sweatshop methods, the bad pay, and the working conditions.
The differences are that we now have better pay, better working area, more sanitation, and better saftey laws like fire alarms and exits.
We learned that we needed better sanitation and saftey mostly. The work places were fire hazards and there were alot of dangerous equipment. Which makes us now realize that work was too dangerous for children. After the Triangle Shirt Waist Factory Fire the laws for fire excapes, spriklers, fire alarms, proper waist baskets, maximum capacity, and mandatory fire drills were put into play.
I think what we still need to learn from there is mostly things about money. I think there are too many companies going bankrupt and then going out of buisness.
Some things that are similiar between now and the gilded age is that we still have sweatshops. We have people doing a large amount of work for little pay. In some work spaces there are unsafe and unsanitary conditons similiar to the gilded age.
Some things that are different between now and the gilded age is that we have improved with saftey hazards and unsanitary work spaces. Most jobs have equipped fire precautions like: sprinkelers, drills, and fire escapes. This makes a lot better work space then the gilded age.
There are some good lessons we have learned from the gilded age. One lesson is that because of the triangle shirtwaist fire we are more strict on saftey rules. This has made America's modern work spaces better. We have also learned that managers cant make unfair rules to the employees because they could start a union.
Some lessons we have not learned from the gilded age is that it is unfair and morally wrong to treat workers unfairly by giving unfair pay( Like sweatshops). Some companies have bad work environments similiar to the gilded age and they haven't learned it is bad.
There are many similarities and differences between today's society compared to the Gilded Age. A similarity is that working conditions can still be impoved.
There are some companies that still pay their employees unfairly. Some of these companies are: Abercrombie and Fitch, GAP, Banana Republic, Eddie Bauer, and many more. During the Gilded Age, pay was cheap, hours were long, and conditions were unsanitary. Now, we have higher pay, a limited number of hours in a week, and after that, people get payed overtime. And there are regulations that companies need to follow. Inspectors follow out this aspect of sanitation and safety.
Some lessons that we as Americans learned from the Progressive Era and the Gilded Age are that employees need to be treated better. Back then, conditions were horrible...we have learned that regulations or standards need to be set and followed in order for a company to function correctly and in an orderly fashion. We have learned that employees need better benefits- better pay, less hours, medical assistance, and much better sanitary conditons. Heaters and AC units are used to help workers be in a comfortable atmosphere. There are also safety regualtions- fire escapes, fire drills, sprinkler systems, and a maximum capacity limit to help ensure safety precautions. Some lessons that we still haven't learned from the Gilded Age and Progressive Era are: there are still people who are being treated unfairly. Like I said above, some companies are not paying their employees fairly. These companies are setting up factories in foreign countries, and paying the people little money, because little money to us means a lot to them. Companies are taking advantage of these foreigners, because they don't know any better...it's a job and they believe it is worth it. These companies should not be acting like this- it's cruel to the human race. Nobody deserves to be treated unfairly by huge corporations that are paying them little money for so much work.
There are plenty of similarities and differences between now and the Gilded Age. One of the similarities is that people today still take advantage of people, making them work long hard hours and for what, ten cents an hour? You could also say that many companies don't offer very good health/insurance benefits. Many people today, if they lost their job or hurt them self in such a way that they couldn't work, they would have nothing to back them up.
Some differences are that today there are very specific things that companies have to follow like work saftey and resonable working conditions. These don't apply every where in the world though so there are plenty of places outside of the United States that don't have safe or reasonable working conditions. Another difference is that we have child labor laws. This law won't allow the employment of minors. In the Gilded Age they didn't have this law so in almost all families they had their children working too.
As Americans, we have learned so much from the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era. We have learned some of the meaning of the saying,"What goes around comes around", by the way the employers treated their workers. They gave them low wages, long hours and no breaks, and after time they got bankrupt companies. We learned that we need to work together if we are to have success. We also learned that when we treat people the way we did, that in the long run, we are just hurting ourselves. So in the end it comes down to saying that we don't want to go through the Gilded Ages and Progressive Era again and to do that we need to start saying "One for All" instead of "All for One".
Lessons we still need to learn are some that I think that it will take some time if not forever. The reason for that is that you can't force someone to believe something unless they want to. Saying that there are always going to be people in the world who will believe what they want and cannot be stopped. They won't learn lessons like selflessness, fairness, and the difference between what is right, and what is easy. Those are some of the lessons that we as Americans still need to learn.
since the gilded age we have learned that we should have better working conditions no mater what factory they work in. we have learned that everyone should be treated the same no matter what race or religion. even if they are immigrants they should be treated the same as civilans. we also learned that all the machines they use to use were dangerous and should be improved.
something we still should improve is the amount of pay people earn. still some people omly make 10 dollars a week. some factories are still not safe and still have immigrants doing work for low pay.
Today there are still big companies making alot of money. And there are still some sweatshops with bad working conditions are very low pay. What is different is that big companies have competition and try to have low prices. Also there are many different jobs, that require education in that field. There is more space in working areas, most places have AC and/or heat, and people get paid decently. and more inspections have to be made
we have learned that big businesses must have competition and that gov't has to supervise them. If big businesses didnt have competition they could put unfair prices on their products. we have also learned with most companies safe working conditions and fair pay. some companies still need to learn to treat all workers fairly and follow labor laws, there are still sweatshops around today.
Some differences between today and the Gilded Age are the facts that the factories and sweatshops have become more sanitary and safe. We get better pay now, as in we actually get paid the amount we should for the amount of work. After Upton Sinclair wrote "The Jungle" we passed an inpection act so that products were properly made. We now in school and in other work places have drills to practice in case of a natural disaster or break-in. Some similarities are that depending on which company we look at some sweatshops and factories are still not as sanitary as they could be and that some people don't get fair pay.
We have learned many things about the Progressive Era. We learned that factories were very unsanitary and unsafe. For example the meat factories. Many people died of infections or severe injuries. Not all buildings were as properly made as they could have been. They didn't have air conditioning which made it very uncomfortable for people to work in. For the triangle shirtwaist factory they didn't have proper emergency exits. When the fire striked they had very few options; just stay there and burn up in flames or jump out the window. The pays were not very fair and not everyone was treated fairly either. Someone could easily be fired in a spilt second and someone else would be easily thrown into the factory to take their spot.
A lesson that we still to run across upon would be the working conditions in todays factories. Just because an act was passes about 100 years ago doesn't mean it still is as active as it was when it was first passed. Most factories or work places have specific and trustworthy working conditions, but there are still some out there that may not be as legal as they should be. Some people still may be treated with disrespect and might still get some unfair pay. The conditions may be a step up of what they used to be but they should be as safe as possible. If people want to have a good business the people working there should be treated well enough to want to work there.
We learned in the progressive era that there was terrible working conditions. They had very little space to work so they were mostly all touching the person next to them. The factories were unsafe and unsanitary, the workers could get injured and right away they would lose their job. They worked long days for very little pay. There were no fire exscapes, no sprinklers, and no alarms to tell them when there was a fire.
We have not yet learned about how young some of the childern were that worked in some of the factories. We know that there was childern working there, but we don't know how old they were and how much they got paid.
The Gilded Age and society today is different and similar in its own ways. We still have the rich, middle class, and poor; but its not as big of a gap in the middle as it was back then. Today it kind of blends together. Another difference is that today we have better management and the conditions of our factories and work places. With the whole situation with the Triangle Shirtwaist Company and the meat processing plants,etc, it said back then that they didnt treat workers right and that they had horrible and not good enough working conditions. In society right now you dont hear about bad working conditions and that stuff as much, we still have issues but its far better than before.
Some lessons we have learned are to treat women and men equally, take better care of our factory problems (factory workers factory conditions, animals in the factories, business requirments, etc) and to help out the ones struggling beneath us. In the Asche Building before the fire and around that time, women weren't treated as fair as men were by the conditions they faced and women were only workers not leaders at all, now we had a women run for president and one running for vice president at the moment to we've learned we're all equal. We've also stepped up on our working conditions. We have charities and just overall many more people helping out the poor. On the stuff we've learned we still have more to learn to help those issues even more but some things take time and effort but we're getting there.
We haven't learned about how the other kids in other countries have as much equal rights as the kids in America and the countries that they're making clothes for in filthy, horrible sweat shops. We need to change those ways. Also we need to figure out a better way to substain our economy like they did back then.
1. The Gilded Age and our society today are very much alike. Some of these similarities are that we still have global sweatshops, poor working conditions such as no heating in the winter and no air conditioning in the summer. Also workers still aren't getting fair pay, or the right ammount of hours. Many illegal immigrants to our country are taking union workers jobs because they will accept a lower pay, just as in the Gilded Age.
2. Some differences between our society and the Gilded Age are that workers do get enough pay to raise a family, and make it through their payments, and most of the time they get paid for working overtime. Also workers today have shorter hours than the workers in the Gilded Age had. In our society today workers are given airconditioning and are given their own working areas. Today their are strict laws against child labor, and back in the Gilded Age they tried to stop it but failed. Finally, in our society we don't address some of the problems such as sweatshops as hard as the workers did in the Gilded Age. We just touch on it, but workers had strikes and big arguements over it.
3. Some of the lessons that we learned from the Progressive Era and the Gilded Age are how unfairly people were treated. People were getting fired for doing one little thing wrong, getting hurt on the job, or trying to stand up for what they believe in. Many factories and businesses would also give away union workers jobs to new immigrants that wanted little pay. We can also learn that some of the conditions given to factory workers in those times are still in effect today, but people just don't realize it as often. Like I said above, sweatshops, poor pay, non-union labor, and overall horrible working conditions are here today.
4. I think that as Americans we still haven't learned the lesson of treating employees with the respect that they should get. I am basically stating the Golden Rule that everyone learns in Kindergarden, "Treat others how you want to be treated". I think that the whole country of America could learn to grasp that whole idea. In the Gilded Age and Progressive Era, they were slowly getting better at this lesson and after a while it got better. But in our society today we have brought back having some individuals overpowering others, and destroying the other person's life! I hope that in a few years, America will start to realize how much each persons' decition affects our country as a whole.
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Gilded Age and Progressive Era
The Gilded Age was a time in the 1800's when there was extravagant wealth of a few and the terrible poverty that lay underneath. I do think that is fairly true for today because, the rich keep getting richer and the poor keep getting poorer. America is one of the richest countries today like it was during the Gilded Age. Then if you look at people in Africa, you find families that can't afford a home or even their next meal! The celebrities and big business owners have all the money you could want. They show their wealth off and spend it on things they don't necessarily need like when Alva and William Kissam Vanderbilt threw that party! The average American is in debt way over their heads. The celebrities and big business owners of today and the rich Americans during the Gilded Age, represent the thin layer of wealthy people while the poor Africans and in debt Americans show the rest of the social ladder like in the Gilded Age.
Some differences of the Gilded Age to today's society is that during the Gilded Age there were less people and less ways to be in that wealthy thin layer than there are today. Today, there are more ways of helping those that are poor. There are ways for you to get back on your feet and people are wanting to help those that are financially in debt. During the Gilded Age, if you were poor, you were separated from the rich and were considered unequal because of the amount of money you had in your bank. There also weren't very many ways of helping those that were poor.
From the Gilded Age we have definitely learned how to make money! We have learned how to run successful businesses. If we wouldn't have known the mistakes that some Americans have made from trying to run businesses, America wouldn't be where it is today. Many big companies of today, are using the same techniques that business owners from the Gilded Age used. We also have learned from the Progressive Era. We've learned that safety is needed when it comes to buildings that we work in. Americans can and should fight for what they believe in. We also know that there has to be working standards for hours, wages, and sanitation. If these are not in place, people get sick from products, being over worked, or from working in dirty areas.
What we still need to learn from the Gilded Age and the Progressive Era is that every human is worth more than money. We all just need to stop being greedy and just help each other. If money wasn't around today, I think a lot of problems in this world would be gone. We shouldn't strive to be richer than another person, but to be happy about what we've done to help them.
Posted by Leeah S at 7:03 PM
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Compared to today, the Gilded Age had a lot more money. Their money was not worth a lot however because there was so much of it. By this I mean that since there was so much money going around items were very expensive so they didn't have a lot left after spending it on certain items they may have needed or wanted. Today items are still expensive but our dollar is worth more.
Since the Progressive Era we have learned that the working conditions were horrible and that the people worked in extremely hot and crowded places for little or no pay. We still have yet to learn that everyone should be treated equal and that we should receive good money after we work hard and long hours.
Today we still have sweatshops in someplaces around the world just like in the Gilded Age. People still work for low wages like around 30 cents a hour. There are still bad working conditions.
Some differences are that today we have some better working conditions, but not in all factories. The Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire paved the way for better working conditoins. Now becasue of that we have safer more healthy working conditions and we also have higher wages and less hours.
Things we have learned from the Gilded Age and Progressive Era are having bad unsafe and working conditions and low wages and long hours aren;t always the way to go when it comes to businesses and factorys. Some reasons are if you do this workers get sick they die and they genreally don;t work as hard.
Somke lessons we still need to learn are that we should stop using sweatshops. We should stop using them because it treats workers unfairly.
We have learned that during the progressive era the working conditions were very poor. That there were not very strict regulations for food manufacturers to abide by. The workers were not treated well and weren't paid well for how hard and long they worked. Some similarities between society today and the progressive era are that people at least had jobs and worked. That there were many rough patches and still people work there hardest to get past them. Some differences are that thank goodness there are strict health regulations. Food inspectors have to look at all of the food and make sure everything is clean/sanitary. Also there are better, safer working conditions,but still there could be even better sanitation regulations, better pay, and safer working environments.
We have learned that during the progressive era the working conditions were very poor. That there were not very strict regulations for food manufacturers to abide by. The workers were not treated well and weren't paid well for how hard and long they worked. Some similarities between society today and the progressive era are that people at least had jobs and worked. That there were many rough patches and still people work there hardest to get past them. Some differences are that thank goodness there are strict health regulations. Food inspectors have to look at all of the food and make sure everything is clean/sanitary. Also there are better, safer working conditions,but still there could be even better sanitation regulations, better pay, and safer working environments.
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