Aspects of Life in Industrial America

The dawn of industrialized America created a diverse and distinct landscape of today’s American society. The most impressive thing for me when learning about this period was the story of George Washington Plunkitt, who was a ward heeler. He was a part of the efforts to have the policies of ever-growing cities and industries adapt to the immigrant population. The thing that I found most remarkable was his dedication to the people that he helped, that were mostly immigrants. He would be awakened in the middle of the night to resolve issues that those people had (Lock & Wright, 2019). He held four public offices simultaneously and was proclaimed by the author of the book about him as “the most thoroughly practical politician of the day” (Riordon, 2020). He earned that title by not only helping people who needed it but also by fighting corruption. The consequences of corruption bring inequality and a decrease in population accountability, which lead to great levels of frustration and torment among the city’s residents. Corruption and bureaucracy present a severe issue to this day, so this kind of loyalty to the community inspires admiration.

George Washington Plunkett, State Senator, Assemblyman, Police Magistrate, and County Supervisor

George Washington Plunkitt
Figure 1. George Washington Plunkitt (Source: McNamara, 2019)

There are several new words that I have learned from this module. The first one is carpetbag which stands for the behavior of opportunistic people that come from the North who strive to exploit local Southerners for gain, be it social, financial, or political. The next new word for me was the word pauperism. This word means the state of being extremely poor to the extent of having to rely on the support at public’s expense.

References

Riordon, W. L. (2020). Plunkitt of Tammany Hall: A series of very plain talks on very practical politics. Dover Publications.

McNamara, R. (2019). Profile of George Washington Plunkitt, Tammany Hall politician. ThroughtCo.

Locke, J. L. & Wright, B. (Eds.). (2019). The American Yawp: A massively collaborative open U. S. history textbook: Since 1877, 2. Stanford University Press.

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