In David Montgomery’s Beyond Equality, he starts by explaining how the economy was doing low, how the introduction of the railroad and the telegraph led to production and corporation to manage “men, money, and materials” during 1847 and 1854. (Montgomery, p.4).
On the other hand, unfortunately, unemployment was high. This part interested me because it reminded me of when many people faced this situation during the covid 19 pandemic. Businesses did not have enough money and struggled to pay their workers, so many had to ‘cut off’ people. These events took place rapidly between 1861- 1865. The topic of unemployment also reminded me of what we learned last class, which happened during the Panic of 1873.
In addition, it tells us how the workers faced a competitive, hard environment because employers demanded more. They were treated bad and not paid attention to. Also, the government played a role in a way to “fostering growth and in the thinking of most entrepreneurs than did economies.” (Montgomery, p.6). In order to improve, many people joined and formed partnerships, an example can be the Cambria Iron Works, which was between Daniel J. Morrell and John Fritz, their business had land and “6,000 men and boys” (Montgomery, p.9). This partnership was known as the ‘nation’s largest fabricator of iron rails.’
Overall, Montgomery shows entrepreneurial crisis, how unemployment affected people’s lives, how the Civil War brought inflation, and how government interfered.
A good effort, but a sense of Montgomery’s larger arguments as well as a solid grasp of the timeframe is missing. How do the Civil War and Reconstruction years loom large in Montgomery’s description of the economic changes taking place, and how does he challenge earlier interpretations of this period? What was the significance of new, fully industrialized and highly capitalized companies like the Cambria Iron Works in this period?
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