Unit 1: Industrialization, Immigration & The Progressive Movement

Andrew Carnegie, "The Gospel of Wealth" (1889)

This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth: first, to set an example of modest, unostentatious living, shunning display or extravagance;... and after doing so to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds, which he is... strictly bound as a matter of duty to administer in the manner which, in his judgment, is best calculated to produce the most beneficial results for the community  the man of wealth thus becoming the mere agent and trustee for his poorer brethren, bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience, and ability to administer, doing for them better than they would or could do for themselves....

Those who would administer wisely, must, indeed, be wise, for one of the serious obstacles to the improvement of our race is indiscriminate charity. It were better for mankind that the millions of the rich were thrown into the sea than so spent as to encourage the slothful, the drunken, the unworthy. Of every thousand dollars spent in so-called charity today, it is probable that $950 is unwisely spent; so spent, indeed, as to produce the very evils which it proposes to mitigate or cure....

A well-known writer... admitted the other day that he had given a quarter of a dollar to a man who approached him.... He knew nothing of the habits of this beggar; knew not the use that would be made of this money, although he had every reason to suspect that it would be spent improperly.... The quarter-dollar given that night will probably [injure more than it will help].... [The donor] only gratified his own feelings, saved himself from annoyance  and this was probably one of the most selfish and very worst actions of his life....

In bestowing charity, the main consideration should be to help those who will help themselves; to provide part of the means by which those who desire to improve may do so; to give those who desire to rise the aids by which they may rise; to assist.... Neither the individual nor the race is improved by almsgiving. Those worthy of assistance... seldom require assistance. The really valuable men of the race never do.... He is the only true reformer who is as careful and as anxious not to aid the unworthy as he is to aid the worthy... in almsgiving more injury is probably done by rewarding vice than by relieving virtue....

The best means of benefiting the community is to place within its reach the ladders upon which the aspiring can rise  parks... by which men are helped in body and mind; works of art, certain to give pleasure and improve the public taste...  in this manner returning their surplus wealth to the mass of their fellows in the form best calculated to do them lasting good....

The man who dies leaving behind him millions of available wealth, which was his to administer during life, will pass away "unwept, unhonored and unsung".... Of such of these the public verdict will then be: "The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced."

Such in my opinion is the true Gospel concerning Wealth, obedience to which is destined someday to solve the problem of the Rich and the Poor, and to bring "Peace on earth, among men good will."

 For each of these three answers which are to be written or typed on a separate piece of paper…

-First 1-2 sentences is YOUR answer in YOUR OWN words. The next part of the answer is you directly quoting a section from the reading. The final part is your summary of how that quotation supports your answer. ALWAYS “one sentence before, one sentence after” when quoting something.

-Please underline the direct quotations from the reading.

1. According to Andrew Carnegie, what are the duties of the man of wealth?

Carnegie believed it was the duty of the wealthy to help care for the poor. He wrote, “the man of wealth thus becoming the mere agent and trustee for his poorer brethren, bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience, and ability to administer, doing for them better than they would or could do for themselves.” In this line, Carnegie points out that the wealthy have experiences that they should use for good use like helping the poor.

2. How does Carnegie view charity? In what instances does Carnegie believe that charity is most beneficial?

3. Why, according to Carnegie, are some people "worthy" of charity and others "unworthy"?

Learning Goal 5 – I will be able to:

4. 
   Working Conditions & Unions
   
   1. 
      Frederick W. Taylor – The Principles of Scientific Management encouraged factory owners to use workers as interchangeable parts
      
      1. 
         Working conditions got worse
         
      2. 
         Workers formed unions, or groups of people who join together to fight for better pay and working conditions from their bosses.
         
   2. 
      Knights of Labor
      
      1. 
         First national union, founded in the 1870s, led by Terence Powderly
         
      2. 
         Pushed for 8 hour workday, equal pay for equal work, end to child labor
         
   3. 
      American Federation of Labor
      
      1. 
         Led by Samuel Gompers
         
      2. 
         Collective Bargaining – workers acting together to negotiate with management
         
      3. 
         More successful b/c better organized, focused on skilled workers, negotiated
         

My friends, we have met here today to celebrate the idea that has prompted thousands of working-people of Louisville and New Albany to parade the streets...; that prompts the toilers of Chicago to turn out by their fifty or hundred thousand of men; that prompts the vast army of wage-workers in New York to demonstrate their enthusiasm and appreciation of the importance of this idea; that prompts the toilers of England, Ireland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Austria to defy the manifestos of the autocrats of the world and say that on May the first, 1890, the wage-workers of the world will lay down their tools in sympathy with the wage-workers of America, to establish a principle of limitations of hours of labor to eight hours for sleep, eight hours for work, and eight hours for what we will.

It has been charged time and again that were we to have more hours of leisure we would merely devote it to debaucher to the cultivation of vicious habits—in other words, that we would get drunk. I desire to say this in answer to that charge: As a rule, there are two classes in society who get drunk. One is the class who has no work to do in consequence of too much money; the other class, who also has no work to do, because it can’t get any, and gets drunk on its face. I maintain that that class in our social life that exhibits the greatest degree of sobriety is that class who are able, by a fair number of hours of day’s work to earn fair wages—not overworked….

They say they can’t afford it. Is that true? Let us see for one moment. If a reduction in the hours of labor causes industrial and commercial ruination, it would naturally follow increased hours of labor would increase the prosperity, commercial and industrial. If that were true, England and America ought to be at the tail end, and China at the head of civilization.

Is it not a fact that we find laborers in England and the United States, where the hours are eight, nine and ten hours a day—do we not find that the employers and laborers are more successful? Don’t we find them selling articles cheaper? We do not need to trust the modern moralist to tell us those things. In all industries where the hours of labor are long, there you will find the least development of the power of invention. Where the hours of labor are long, men are cheap, and where men are cheap there is no necessity for invention. How can you expect a man to work ten or twelve or fourteen hours at his calling and then devote any time to the invention of a machine or discovery of a new principle or force? If he be so fortunate as to be able to read a paper he will fall asleep before he has read through the second or third line.

I maintain that this is a true proposition—that men under the short-hour system not only have opportunity to improve themselves, but to make a greater degree of prosperity for their employers. Why, my friends, how is it in China, how is it in Spain, how is it in India and Russia, how is it in Italy? Cast your eye throughout the universe and observe the industry that forces nature to yield up its fruits to man’s necessities, and you will find that where the hours of labor are the shortest the progress of invention in machinery and the prosperity of the people are the greatest. It is the greatest impediment to progress to hire men cheaply. Wherever men are cheap, there you find the least degree of progress. It has only been under the great influence of our great republic, were our people have exhibited their great senses, that we can move forward, upward and onward, and are watched with interest in our movements of progress and reform.

The man who works the long hours has no necessities except the barest to keep body and soul together, so he can work. He goes to sleep and dreams of work; he rises in the morning to go to work; he takes his frugal lunch to work; he comes home again to throw himself down on a miserable apology for a bed so that he can get that little rest that he may be able to go to work again. He is nothing but a veritable machine. He lives to work instead of working to live….

My friends, you will find that it has been ascertained that there is more than a million of our brothers and sisters—able-bodied men and women—on the streets, and on the highways and byways of our country willing to work but who cannot find it. You know that it is the theory of our government that we can work or cease to work at will. It is only a theory. You know that it is only a theory and not a fact. It is true that we can cease to work when we want to, but I deny that we can work when we will, so long as there are a million idle men and women tramping the streets of our cities, searching for work. The theory that we can work or cease to work when we will is a delusion and a snare. It is a lie.

1. 
   What is the significance of this quotation to the passage?
   

“Why, my friends, how is it in China, how is it in Spain, how is it in India and Russia, how is it in Italy? Cast your eye throughout the universe and observe the industry that forces nature to yield up its fruits to man’s necessities, and you will find that where the hours of labor are the shortest the progress of invention in machinery and the prosperity of the people are the greatest.”

1. 
   In this quotation, Gompers is citing these other countries as having better conditions for its workers who in turn are more productive.
   
2. 
   In this quotation, Gompers is stating his belief that American companies need to have a presence in other countries to make more money.
   
3. 
   In this quotation, Gompers is stating why America is better than all of the other countries he listed.
   
4. 
   In this quotation, Gompers is stating his desire to move out of the United States.
   
   
   
1. 
   In this sentence, what would be a synonym for “charged?”
   

“It has been charged time and again that were we to have more hours of leisure we would merely devote it to debaucher to the cultivation of vicious habits.”

1. 
   Claimed b. Proven c. Disproven d. Allowed
   
   
   
1. 
   Which sentence best supports Gompers’ claim that American workers’ lives are worse because of the number of hours they are required to work?
   
   1. 
      “You know that it is the theory of our government that we can work or cease to work at will.”
      
   2. 
      “He lives to work instead of working to live.”
      
   3. 
      “It has grown out of the necessities of the people, and, although some may desire to see it fail, still the labor movement will be found to have a strong lodgment in the hearts of the people, and we will go on until success has been achieved!”
      
   4. 
      “In all industries where the hours of labor are long, there you will find the least development of the power of invention.”
      
      
      
2. 
   What is the purpose of Gompers’ speech?
   
   1. 
      To allow workers to work overtime
      
   2. 
      To encourage American workers to work harder
      
   3. 
      To encourage America to change how it views work
      
   4. 
      To force the US government to change laws
      
      
      

5. 
   According to Gompers, who gets drunk?
   
   1. 
      The alcoholics and the homeless c. The Working Man and the politicians
      
   2. 
      The rich and the unemployed d. Everyone