HIST 2112 The Social Question with Dr Nicole Greer Golda

Main ideas and concepts

• Time period and overarching focus

  • The video frames U.S. history from 1877 (end of Reconstruction) to about 1917 (U.S. entry into World War I).
  • It emphasizes that multiple major “thematic questions” of the era were happening at the same time, and encourages viewers to track connections between debates.
  • The specific topic for this session is the “social question.”

• What the “social question” is

  • The social question centers on how wealth and society should be managed.
  • As the U.S. industrialized, large numbers of people remained impoverished while companies and some individuals accumulated vast wealth.
  • The video’s central concern: How Americans understood the growing wealth gap.

Industrialization’s effects on everyday life (home, work, and gender)

• Shift from rural to urban life

  • In the 19th century, many people lived in rural settings; the household economy shaped daily life.
  • By around 1920, more people lived in cities, and urbanization continued through the 20th century.
  • Farm vs. city work rhythms
    • Farm life follows seasons and the sun.
    • City work follows the clock; seasons matter less for scheduling work.

• Transformation in the meaning and location of work

  • Before: households produced visible, owned goods (e.g., food like potatoes).
  • During industrial factory life:
    • Workers become “cogs in the machine.”
    • Workers do not own what they produce (e.g., shoes/cars belong to the system/company).
    • What is sold is labor, not ownership of the product.
  • Factory work typically occurs outside the home (even if some work happens within, the main factory pattern removes work from home life).

• Who worked first in factories and why

  • Young women were among the earliest U.S. factory workers, especially in textile mills.
  • They were hired because their wages were kept low and their income was treated as supplemental to family income.

• Household and gender role changes

  • Key tensions/assumptions raised by the video:
    • If men are the “main” workers, should men earn enough to support the family at home?
    • Should women and children work factory jobs?
    • How does paying for labor outside the home reshape the household?
  • Changing beliefs:
    • Paid factory work increasingly got coded as men’s work, while wives and children increasingly became expected to stay out of paid employment.
  • Household work dynamics:
    • Household responsibilities shifted in meaning and status, increasingly viewed as women’s unpaid (supplemental) work, which devalued it.
  • Ownership and authority:
    • The removal of paid labor from the home helped women gain greater control/ownership of the home in a new sense.
  • Earlier farm household roles:
    • Men were often treated as household heads, leading through physical labor and spiritual guidance.
  • Overall lesson: industrial changes produced major transitions in gender roles and ideas about who maintains the home vs. who works outside it.

“American style” capitalism and labor conflict

• U.S. capitalism’s structure

  • The video describes “American capitalism” as a distinct “twist” on broader capitalism.
  • Core features:
    • Capitalism depends on selling goods to generate profit.
    • Success is measured by how much profit and how much of the product is sold.
    • Often summarized as “expand or die.”

• Minimal government interference vs. business vulnerability

  • Business leaders argued for control of the economy with minimal government regulation.
  • This produced high profits but also increased vulnerability to economic crashes, making boom-and-bust cycles more common.

• Central tension: labor costs and the “wealth gap”

  • The “largest cost” for businesses is labor.
  • Businesses want to keep wages low to maximize profits, which harms workers’ lives.
  • The result is a more fixed wealth stratification: some people have a lot; many have very little.

• The system was contested—not inevitable

  • The video stresses that outcomes were debated and shaped by choices and conflict.
  • Both businesses and workers actively tried to define how the economic order would work.

Stakeholders’ competing claims

• Business owners’ argument

  • They claim they deserve their profits because they own the companies.
  • They argue they should set:
    • business structure
    • the terms of employment contracts

• Workers’ argument

  • Workers argue profits depend on their labor.
  • They therefore deserve:
    • a share of profits
    • a voice in policy, especially regarding:
      • wages
      • workplace conditions

Regulation: the key political question

• What should regulate the new economy?

  • The video frames a major concern as whether the system should be:
    • left to businesses
    • shaped by worker input
    • mediated by government

• Both sides wanted government in different ways

  • Businesses:
    • typically opposed direct interference in business practices
    • still wanted government support—especially to use state laws or militias to stop strikes/union action
  • Workers:
    • wanted government to establish regulatory principles
    • demand humane working conditions

• Pendulum shift

  • The video notes that reforms and labor conflicts will be explored later, implying that over time the emphasis increasingly moved toward government supporting business (to be seen more in a “labor question” video).

Readings the video points to (wealth gap approaches)

• Three readings explicitly about the wealth gap

  • Andrew Carnegie: “Gospel of Wealth”
  • Walter Rauschenbusch: “Social Gospel”
  • The video also connects Rauschenbusch (conceptually) to John Ryan’s idea of a living wage (contrasting it with Carnegie’s views).

• Assigned task for viewers

  • Consider what each approach is about.
  • Decide what you find most compelling.

Speakers / sources featured

• Dr. Nicole Greer (speaker)
• Andrew Carnegie (reading/figure referenced)
• Walter Rauschenbusch (reading/figure referenced)
• John Ryan (idea referenced)