America is a country that embraced industrialization in the nineteenth century. In the 1900’s, there were already established industries in America that dealt with the production and manufacturing of different kinds of products. The industries and companies employed close to three quarters of the American population, and also enjoyed monopoly in their respective fields of operation. Due to the monopoly, the industry and company owners became powerful among the people. The gap between the rich and the poor was huge compared to the present day America. In the course of the year 1900, Americans realized that the monopolistic style of industries did not favor them, hence, the revolt started to restore equity. The Monopolies of 1900s created led to the exploitation of American workers and upcoming business investors.
The monopoly of the 1900’s, subjected American workers to hard labor with low wages. Many Americans who worked in the companies or industries earned an average of $490 every year.[1] The four hundred and ninety dollars in the 1900s was not considered a living wage. The cost of living had gone high with the introduction of the industries. Assembling industries were the most common in America and people scrambled for employment in such industries. A single individual worker had the potential of seeing the assembling process from the beginning to the end.[2] The industry owners had workers at their disposal considering that the population of America was growing fast with scarce job opportunities. The low wages explains the extent to which the American workers were exploited by their employers.
Many workers and poor people died in the 1900s. Death of the poor in America was twice compared to that of the wealthy.[3] The frequent deaths of the poor in America were due to the hard labor and low wages that could not afford to cater for their health expenses. Most of the wealthy people in America in the 1900’s were industry owners who enjoyed monopoly in their businesses. The wealthy never cared about the consequences of the imbalance that existed between them and the poor. They wealthy bragged about their position by claiming that they owned America.[4] The bragging displayed a sense of inhuman traits among the industry owners. The wealthy were considered to be the financiers of America in 1900’s; hence, they became more powerful for the government to moderate their businesses.
President Roosevelt and Taft’s efforts to moderate business operations of the wealthy yielded no fruit. The wealthy had more power that President Roosevelt and Taft could not counter.[5] Lawmakers and the courts in the 1900’s only sided with the wealthy considering that they were the American financiers. For instance, the anti-trust acts were turned against workers who fought for their basic rights.[6] The courts further scraped any form of workers’ union with the claim that they were illegal. Curtailing workers’ efforts towards wage justice continued as the wealthy enjoyed monopoly in their businesses.
The clauses of the American constitution showed that it protected citizens’ rights though the reverse was the case. Arresting of workers who held meetings on the streets was enough proof that the constitution was biased.[7] The American constitution was no longer a defender of all, but the wealthy. Many workers lost their lives in the quest for labor justice because of police brutality and court compromise.[8] The American workers had no institution to protect their rights, and forming workers’ union was the only way to fight for their employment rights.
When workers realized that the powers of the wealthy were beyond the control of President Roosevelt and Taft, they decided to form unions.[9] The unions were not allowed to see the light of the day by the courts. All court actions were influenced by the wealthy, hence, the fight shifted from the employers to the courts. The courts were the only impediment towards justice realization. Although the unions were scraped by the courts, workers still held secret meetings to discuss their plights. Unions were the only option left for workers to explore since the decision that they made were not subject to legal interpretation.[10] Apart from workers, establishing a business was a hard task considering that industries and companies patented their businesses.
Business patenting played a major role in monopolistic state of American businesses in the 1900s. When a company or industry patents a business idea, no other company or individual is allowed by law to establish a similar business.[11] The assembling industry, which was the most common type of business, was controlled by a few wealthy individuals within America. In 1900, one of the American economists, Richard, drafted a bill on natural monopoly.[12] Richards’s bill was later realized in the late 1900, hence, fuelling monopolistic trend. Although the workers were exploited by the monopolistic business, other potential business investors were also affected with the process negatively.
The case of Ford versus Smith in the 1900’s explains the patent and monopoly rule in business. Ford, who came up with a business idea and narrated it to smith, was betrayed and was involved in a series of legal tasks. Ford applied for wheels assembling license, but his application was rejected.[13] Ford was to assemble wheels at fair prices while maximizing the volume of sales. The idea was then stolen and patented by Smith before Ford could file his patent application.[14] Being that Smith was the first to patent the idea, Ford was not allowed to engage in the business anymore. Ford became desperate and was willing to compromise in case an opportunity arose.
Smith enjoyed monopoly on the wheel assembling business while Ford, who was the original owner of the idea battled with the legal system to have his license approved. Smith was wealthy while Ford had little capital to establish the wheel idea.[15] This aspect explains the effect of patents on the 1900’s American industry. In the course of the conversation between the two individuals, Smith asked Ford about his source of capital considering Ford lacked finances to actualize the idea.[16] This explains how monopolies of the 1900s were both cruel to workers and business starters like Ford.
In conclusion, the monopolies of the 1900s were marked with exploits and greed. The wealthy never cared about the plights of the poor and would do anything to maintain the monopolistic kind of business. Industry owners compromised both law makers and the courts. From the actions of the wealthy in the 1900s, it is clear that the courts and law makers were the biggest barriers of equity and justice. Workers were never given a chance to register their businesses or address their concerns through unions; hence, they continued to work on low wages.
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