Monopolies In The 1800s Essay

the United States), major themes were studies. In this paper, two of these themes will be

In How the Other Half Lives, the author Jacob Riis sheds light on the darker side of tenant housing and urban dwellers. He goes to several different parts of the city of New York witnessing first hand the hardships that many immigrants faced when coming to America. His journalism and photographs of the conditions of the tenant housing helped led the way of reformation in the slums of New York. His research opened the eyes of many Americans to the darker side of the nation's lower class. Though it seems that he blamed both the victims and the board forces of society, I believe that he placed more of the blame on the board forces for the conditions that many immigrants faced.

The drive to reform the working and living conditions of the poor in American cities heralded the advent of the Progressive Era, in which social and political activism and reform aimed to reconcile issues of Reconstruction. Writers like Upton Sinclair described ghastly conditions in American factories. Their stories caught the nation’s attention, and political as well as labor action followed. Progressive politicians such as Theodore Roosevelt aggressively sought to reign in the excesses of monopolies. They viewed monopolies as using unfair leverage to hurt

Since the creation of the United States Constitution, the many leaders of our nation took different roles in trying to attain perfectionism for their country. From the federalist views of John Adams to the democratic views of Jefferson, America was experiencing the endeavor that was being a young nation in the midst of the 19th century. The emergence of John Quincy Adams in 1820 started an “Era of Good Feelings” with exceptional political advancements and economic achievements. While Jackson’s democratic views were not always what were expected, during his presidency, the country grew national and world attraction. Through periods of boom and bust, political and economic changes in America undeniably helped reshape society between the years 1820 and 1848 with the emergence of new and innovative advancements.

Toward the latter part of the 19th century, bustling America, in response to the trends of industrialization and urbanization that characterized its Gilded Age, began its new century by entering into a new historical/political epoch that came to be known as the Progressive Era. This distinctive period in history (spanning from the 1890s through 1920) found progressives seeking to use the American federal government as a means of change through social, political, and economic reforms. Politically, the passage of the 16th, 17th, 18th, and 19th amendments are evidence of the success of progressive reformers, despite the fact that some of the new laws failed to create desired social changes. The efforts of the progressives were mainly effective when it came to social reforms related to worker’s rights and child labor, but less productive in attaining improved civil rights for African-American citizens. In addition, the government was, to a large extent, successful in the establishment of economic reforms to aid the working class, such as those enforced by Woodrow Wilson’s “Triple Wall of Privilege”; however, President Roosevelt’s famous anti-trust efforts were ultimately not far-reaching enough at the time to eliminate all problematic corporate monopolies and related corruption.

Along with unfair wages for a tremendous amount of labor on a daily basis, the living conditions were atrocious. To provide insight about the harsh living conditions, the author wrote, “In coal mining areas the immigrants sometimes lived in deserted pigpens and cowsheds.” 1 Another example stated was ,”It had 127 persons living in a building ten feet by fifty feet, including five families cooped into a single room, eating from one common kettle of food, and sleeping in one common bed. ”2 These specific statements represent numerous points that acknowledges the fact that, rather than returning home, these immigrants often chose to live in such places because saving every earned penny, despite current conditions, was their primary objective.

The Industrial Era had left major tracks in America’s society. Poor and unsanitary conditions, long hours, and little pay left the working class immigrants in shambles. Commonly found in urban areas, tenement houses allowed cheap boarding for workers. However, this too had many pitfalls similar to the working conditions themselves. The tenements were cramped, unsanitary, and unsafe.

In todays world we are compulsive complainers. We complain about our jobs, our home life, that we don’t get to sleep in all day, and for college students we complain about having to write papers. As humans we do this on a daily basis. We don’t take into consideration of how good most of us actually have it in life. In the late 1800's this county was taking place in the industrial revolution. In the book "How the Other half Lives" by Jacob Riis it shows the lives of poor immigrants that have come over to American from mostly European countries to try to get a fresh start on a new land. What these people did not know is how they would have to live. Riis wanted people to see what was really going on in the live of many immigrants during this time in New York. Most immigrants didn’t have much money to start with, they had to live in tenants with several other families in one twelve by twelve room. Conditions for these places were absolutely unbearable, dark hallways, foul air, rat infestations, disease ridden just to begin with.

The year is 1900. Living conditions in New York had hit an all time low. Two-thirds of the population were living in overcrowded tenement houses. These small apartments held multiple families, without indoor plumbing. Neighborhoods were taken over by disease and crime. Jacob Riis and Jane Addams were two influential reformers surrounding living conditions in the cities. Jacob Riis photographed

For example, arriving immigrants in the 1900s did not come to America with a lot of money. The best that they could afford were small apartment-like rooms called dumbbell-tenements. These housing facilities did not provide much room for its inhabitants, especially for those living with a large family. Not only were these rooms small, but they were also dirty and filled with mold, which are conditions that prove to be very hazardous to one’s health. In an effort to solve this problem, the famous photographer Jacob Riis took detailed images of the living environment of these low-class immigrants. His published work led to the improvement of dumbbell-tenements and overall better conditions for immigrants as a whole. This was an issue in society that needed to be solved immediately, and it was solved with the help of a

As immigrants from Eastern Europe came to the United States in search of a fresh start, numerous Americans felt as though their jobs were being taken. However, activists of the Progressive Movement knew the reality of those new to American life. In 1890, Jacob Riis wrote “How the Other Half Lives.” In this book, he explained the harsh living conditions that immigrants were exposed to. Poverty in urban areas and life in the slums were documented by him in order to further show the everyday surroundings for immigrants and their struggle to become American citizens. Based off of the social gospel, many felt obligated to take responsibility for the urban poor, and several believed that by doing this, salvation would be obtained. In turn, settlement houses were created, which were community centers that provided assistance for immigrants. The most widely known and familiar settlement house was the Hull House, which was founded by Jane Addams. The Hull House was located in Chicago and provided English lessons and job training for immigrants. This brought hope to a multitude of immigrants that were set on working and becoming a citizen of the United

Another advantage of a monopoly is that you can set the price to how high or low you’d like. Not only that, but you can make as much or as little of the product as you’d like. Monopolies can also make a huge amount of profit since no one has the same product as the monopoly so there is no competition. Monopolies can also afford to use the latest technology there is. Technology is always advancing and there are always going to be newer products that people use each time. Take a cash register for example. Cash registers used to be very low tech. It used to take a while to punch in all the numbers and use a credit/debit card, but now cash registers are fairly easy to use. Nowadays, cash registers are touch screen and the items are on the screen. It is fast, efficient, and easy to use the cash register.

The same concerns existed for Americans in the early 1800s. Efforts to improve society through the abolition of slavery, the temperance movement, and public health and sanitation were central to American life. But Americans were also concerned with efforts to improve ourselves economically in the construction of new transportation networks, the founding of a national economic infrastructure, the creation of the "American System" combining tariffs on foreign imports with the expenditure of government funds on infrastructure projects, and the improvement of the ways in which we manufactured goods and made our

During economic reforms of 1990 it was observed that monopolies and restrictive trade practices (MRTP) has become outdated in context to international economic development relating to competition law and a new law which may reduce monopolies and promote competition , is required. After 1990s India witnessed a drastic increase in international trade law. During this period there was great increase in the volume and value of trade in goods and services, in cross border merger and acquisition (M&E) and in foreign and direct investment. By passing of time restriction on foreign direct investment (FDI) were reduced. however Competition Act has come into force to replace Monopolies and restrictive trade practice (MRTP) Act ,1969. With effect from September 1, 2009 Government of India through ministry of external affairs notification repealed the MRTP Act. Enactment of competition law was with the purpose of providing a completion law which can meet and suits with changed economic demand of India and world. Keeping in mind these scenario the competition Act has been enacted with the purpose of providing a competition law regime that meets and suits the demands of the

Discuss the effects of monopoly on economic development. Is monopoly legal in your country? If so, give three examples. If not, what are the actions of the government that have been taken to prevent monopoly?