Responses to Industrialization

         The reading that we had to analyze discussed the various responses to industrialization in regards to Catholic Social Teaching. Chapter 6 talks about the statements made by Leo and subsequent popes in regards to workers rights’, inequality, private property, gender roles, medical care, disabilities, unemployment, and labor unions. The Industrial Revolution brought about social classes that had not existed before. The more resources people had, the better off they were, which meant they were higher up on the social ladder. Many people went from living in rural areas to moving into urban areas. Owning property and various things became a really big deal. This can be seen when it says, “And, these scholars argue, just as the agricultural revolution ushered in major changes to human relations, including the very concepts of inequality, social hierarchy, slavery and private property, so did the industrial revolution introduce new social classes based on the control of productive resources, widespread movements of people from rural to urban areas, an unabashed glorification of ownership…”

            I remember that we learned about how the Native Americans were kicked out when the Europeans came. I also remember that the Europeans brought many diseases, which wiped out a large portion of Native Americans because they had never been exposed to these sicknesses and didn’t know how to cure their people. Although this had happened, I believe that we can learn from this and understand how things came to be. Industrialization benefited the economy a great deal, along with the technological advances such as the railroad and the cotton gin. People became were effective and efficient in their work, which led to an increase in production.

            We also discussed how workers were treated unfairly and had to endure poor working conditions. They were forced to work long hours for little pay. A quote that appealed to me was, “A society in which this right is systematically denied, in which economic policies do not allow workers to reach satisfactory levels of employment, cannot be justified from an ethical point of view, nor can society attain social peace.” My interpretation of this quote is that if the right to work is denied, society, as a whole is affected and will immediately feel its effects. If workers are not treated properly, as they deserve to be treated for all of their hard work, you cannot expect them to be successful. If they are not happy, production will decline, as will the economy.

            I really liked the way that this quote was worded, “The true advancement of women requires that labor should be structured in such a way that women do not have to pay for their advancement by abandoning what is specific to them and at the expense of the family, in which women as mothers have an irreplaceable role.” Although I would want this to refer to both the mother and the father because it takes both to care for a child otherwise there is always something deficient or missing that the child needs in order to survive. This quote is important because it shows their ways of thinking and that they did not believe in preventing women from working. This is a fear that I personally have, about abandoning my child if I am given the opportunity to work a good job. But I am not the only one raising a child; it takes a mother and a father to raise a child and I feel as if people forget this.

Chapter 15

            Something I found to be interesting in chapter 15 was when it spoke about recruitment. The book says. “Southern cavalrymen provided their own horses, and uniforms were left to local option.” I never knew that before. I mean it makes sense to me. They went to war, but they really were not prepared at all. I think that especially if you are going to do something like go to war, you should be as well prepared as you could ever be for anything because your life and the lives of others are on the line. I think it was a huge triumph when Abraham Lincoln showed that he was much better at leading the country during wartime as compared to Jefferson Davis.

            I now understand why they also call the Civil War the first modern war. It was because of all the technology that had been invented like the railroad and better weapons. I do think it was somewhat troublesome because these weapons and inventions had just been created for the first time. It’s not like they were perfected. I’m sure they were very heavy and not nearly as efficient as they probably are today. Regardless, it was still a huge step in the right direction in becoming more technologically advanced.

            It was interesting how even though the North had way more people and the majority of the railroads, it was still not enough to be easily successful in fighting against the South.  I had always thought that the Civil War was one big battle, but now I understand that it was actually a series of mini battles, some bigger and stronger than the others, but smaller battles nonetheless. The book states, “Armies gained in efficiency in battle through experience, and only late in the war.” I feel like this is a bit unfortunate, but the only way it could have happened other than being better trained and more knowledgeable. I think that some of the pain they went through could have been avoided if they had been prepared for it.

            It was strange how some of the new laws that were made concerning property and slaves, allowed slaves to be both free in some areas, but slaves again in other areas. But this soon led to the enrollment of African-American soldiers in the war. This was the turning point in ending slavery. How can African-Americans fight for freedom for the country when they’re not considered free otherwise? If they’re willing to fight for the country, they should be given the utmost respect and freedoms as anybody else. But African-Americans were able to show how valuable they could be as a result of becoming a soldier. I learned that in a way, slaves went on strike by refusing to work or working inefficiently while the slaveholders went to war.

            It was unfortunate that the war had different effects on the economy. I think this was both good and bad. For example, the cotton textile industries suffered, but based on what I know, there was a lot of child labor and unsafe working conditions. So I would rather have something better come out of the situation, rather than to continue doing something dangerous and unethical.

Chapter 13

            This chapter was very interesting to me because of how quickly the United States expanded in just four years during James K. Polk’s administration. I feel like they were very aggressive and wanted to conquer as much as they could as quickly as they could. It also made a lot more sense to me about how and why there are so many Caucasians here. By 1860, three-fourths of foreign-born Americans were Irish or German.

            I feel like everyone comes to the United States for the same reasons, to improve themselves or their family one way or another. But even though people came for a better life and more opportunities, they still faced hardships; the same way people do today. The only difference is that the world is much more different now than it was before.

            The whole idea of the individual, I think that’s a very American type concept because in many other parts of the world, it is not about the individual; it’s about the entire family. I liked learning about how Levi jeans first started. I think he was a very fortunate man who made it big in San Francisco.

            I found this sentence intriguing, “Native-born Americans simultaneously admired German industriousness and resented German self-sufficiency, which they interpreted as clannishness.” This tells me that Americans both appreciated and had hatred toward Germans for their ways of life. I think that Native-born Americans were mad because they had not been able to be self-sufficient first.

            I think it was perfect how “Californians were as eager to buy as the traders were to sell.” This meant that business would be booming because there was a demand to meet the supply at an equal level. I also feel like both the Americans and the Mexicans used each other to their benefit. I did not know that Mexico had its’ own slaves, who became free in 1829.

            It is strange to me that the treaty that Santa Anna was forced to sign as a result of The Texas Revolution in 1836 was never ratified. I know this was a treaty that recognized the independence of Texas so would that mean that nothing has changed since then about that?

            I do not understand exactly why in the Mexican-American War, the Mexican forces were unable to defeat the Americans even though their army was four times as large.

            The fact that Americans still hired Chinese workers, ever with all the prejudice was interesting because that means that the Americans knew they needed the Chinese. So the Gold Rush is one of the reasons as to how San Francisco became so diverse. It was because people from all different parts of the world came for the gold. Racial and ethnic tensions increased during this time period because various cultures were now coming into contact with one another. Eventually, over time, they had to learn to get along or at least tolerate each other. There was much violence, but we have come a long way since then.