Issues of Capitalism in the United States

Student Name
Course
Instructor
Date
U.S. Labor & Work
The Civil War was a defining moment for the 19th Century America. Following the end of the Civil War, the American economy was in a transition state. What was an almost purely agricultural economy in the 1800s began to move to the first stages of the industrial revolution. This would make the U.S. one of the world’s leading industrial economies by 1900. However, the industrial revolution in the prewar years was mainly limited to the Northern region, leaving the South far much behind. For instance, in 1860, the South was predominantly agricultural, and dependably largely on the sale of staples to the world market, especially cotton. On the contrary, the North had a more advanced economy due to the shift towards a commercial and manufacturing economy. Before the Civil War, the economy of the South was primarily tied to the slave economy. After the Civil War, the economy of the South wakened. The Emancipation Proclamation threatened the very existence of the primary source of labor.
The passage of the Pacific Railway Act in 1862 was critical in transforming the South. The rail was meant to link the East and West. The construction of the first transcontinental railway created job opportunities for thousands of people in factories. More workers were needed to assist in the production of tracks and other tools meant for the construction of the railway. At the same time, more opportunities were available for the laborers laying the tracks across the terrain.
Douglas A. Blackmon’s “Slavery by Another Name:” reveals the Emancipation Proclamation did not end slavery, rather is just changed a name. The author indicates that things became worse before they became better under freedom for the slaves. The author indicates how much of the South was built by forced Black labor. While slavery was declared unconstitutional in 1863 and the South surrendered in 1865, many blacks had already been convicted. A majority of them had been convicted of insignificant crimes and given long sentences. These individuals were made available to the newly established factories. The steel industry, for instance, benefited from prison labor, as were the coal and iron mines that supplied raw materials to the mills.
Additionally, Gordon H. Chang’s “Ghosts of Gold Mountain” demonstrates that the expansion of the railway had adverse effects on the workers. A majority of the people working on the railway were immigrants from southern China who came to the U.S. to escape poverty. The immigrants spend years working at the Transcontinental Railroad. The working conditions of the immigrants were poor. They were forced to live in the margins of American life and late forgotten in American history despite their enormous contribution.
Thomas J. DiLorenzo’s “How Capitalism Saved America” indicates that the working conditions of the workers improved considerably in the advent of capitalism. While the working conditions in the factories may appear favorable in today’s standards, they were actually an improvement of the working conditions these laborers had been subjected to before (DiLorenzo 94). The business owners did not force people to work in the factories. Instead, individuals voluntarily left their occupations and went to the factories. This demonstrates that they could get better working conditions and subsequently improve their standards of living. Before the advent of capitalism, the standard of living for the average working class had remained poor. What seems to be low wages given to the workers was much more than the peanuts they were earning before joining the factories. However, the factories provided an opportunity for the workers to experience better working conditions and improve their lives. Chang disagrees with the assertion that capitalism improved the living condition for all the workers. While the living conditions for the white workers were favorable, those of the Chinese immigrants remained poor. The whites occupied particular occupations like carpenter, blacksmith and tree-cutter as others supervised the Chinese immigrant workers. They, however, received a higher pay compared to the Chinese workers.
Despite the Chinese workers outdoing the white ones, the Chinese continued to receive fewer wages compared to their counterpart whites (Chang 142). Hence, to claim that capitalism improved the living conditions of all the workers is incorrect since this did not apply to the Chinese workers. Nonetheless, Chang agrees with DiLorenzo that the wages for the Chinese were higher than what they could earn elsewhere. Despite the racial prejudice and wage difference based on race, the Chinese workers accepted to receive wages that were less than their white counterparts. The Chinese workers were aware that the wages they received were much more than they could earn in the Pearl River Delta as farmers or laborers (Chang 146). At the same time, the physical risk and the risk of death was high for the Chinese working in the railway line. However, the amounts they received were exceedingly high compared to what they could be making at their home villages.
Moreover, DiLorenzo believes capitalism allowed workers to have more leisure time. For instance, the author indicates that the average workweek declined from 61 hours in 1870 to 48 hours in 1929 (DiLorenzo 99). The application of technology and the use of better tools allowed workers to become more efficient in their occupations. With time, it was possible to produce more goods and services more efficiently. Improved productivity meant that the workers could produce more while spending less time on the job. DiLorenzo (100) notes that the shorter workweek was entire because of the advent of capitalism. It did not take the intervention of the government or labor unions to implemen...