Difference between revisions of "325--2011--Week 3 Questions/Comments"
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(New page: A theme I noticed in the Steinberg article and the letters from Harpers Ferry was a disconnection between the owners of the machinery and the workers. The owners don’t necessarily reali...) |
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A theme I noticed in the Steinberg article and the letters from Harpers Ferry was a disconnection between the owners of the machinery and the workers. The owners don’t necessarily realize the day-to-day workings of the machine and the demands of the workers, but the workers fail to see big picture ideas. The tension between the two causes many problems eventually, and this reaction hurts overall production. In short, industrial capitalism pitted the laborer against the owners of capital. In direct contrast, McGaw mentions that the introduction of the machine forged new bonds between the worker and owner because they both shared a responsibility for mechanization. My question is can the worker and owner actually bond over this? It seems that those two groups would have different and contrasting motives, which would actually sever any bond, as is suggested in Steinberg’s article and the one on Harper’s Ferry. | A theme I noticed in the Steinberg article and the letters from Harpers Ferry was a disconnection between the owners of the machinery and the workers. The owners don’t necessarily realize the day-to-day workings of the machine and the demands of the workers, but the workers fail to see big picture ideas. The tension between the two causes many problems eventually, and this reaction hurts overall production. In short, industrial capitalism pitted the laborer against the owners of capital. In direct contrast, McGaw mentions that the introduction of the machine forged new bonds between the worker and owner because they both shared a responsibility for mechanization. My question is can the worker and owner actually bond over this? It seems that those two groups would have different and contrasting motives, which would actually sever any bond, as is suggested in Steinberg’s article and the one on Harper’s Ferry. | ||
I also thought that Steinberg made a good example of how not everyone will really be happy about technological development when he discussed farmers’ reaction to dams being built. Not many of them were pleased with the damns, and it actually hurt their production and property because they are not represented in the workforce that wants a dam, so they get left behind in that development. --Sara Krechel | I also thought that Steinberg made a good example of how not everyone will really be happy about technological development when he discussed farmers’ reaction to dams being built. Not many of them were pleased with the damns, and it actually hurt their production and property because they are not represented in the workforce that wants a dam, so they get left behind in that development. --Sara Krechel | ||
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| + | The need for female labor allowed the women to stay at home and still be paid by the paper mills. This kind of phenomenon is completely absent from modern factories. | ||
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| + | Perhaps the married women took off more often, because their husbands objected to them working. Another theory could be that the married women were expected to be home more often, so they left for months at a time to take care of household things. For example, the piece talks about a sick friend, but maternity leave and sick children could also be to blame. | ||
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| + | There were more motivations for the Lake Company to control the water levels then just for the mills in Massachusetts. By flooding the smaller mills and depleted them of water at different times, they destroy the small competition for labor and for textiles. There were few if any anti-trust laws at this time to prevent the mills in Massachusetts from eliminating all competition. | ||
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| + | ~~Kyle Allwine | ||
