Difference between revisions of "325--2011--Week 3 Questions/Comments"
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| + | == Strike at Harpers Ferry == | ||
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| + | == Frederick Douglass, Beaten in Baltimore == | ||
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| + | == Judith McGaw, Gender and Papermaking == | ||
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| + | == Charles Dew, Slave Ironworkers in Virginia == | ||
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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 | ||
