Ragtime
The birth of the 20th century brought forth many industrial and social innovations. With these innovations came many racial and economical inequalities. Race has always been an issue throughout the history of our nation, but it was enlarged with the huge wave of European immigrants. Wealth was not an issue because it was usually passed through families, but with the rise of the Industrial Age, it was now possible for the average man to accumulate wealth on his own. In Ragtime, E. L. Doctorow accurately depicted life in the early 20th century by emphasizing first that entrepreneurs believed it they were part of an elite class that were to provide the tools for mankind to progress and secondly the racial inequalities that existed in society. The accumulation of wealth was always thought to be impossible. Wealthy people usually inherited their fortune through family members. Prior to the Industrial Age, it was nearly impossible to build your own fortune especially if you were a regular worker. There were many famous entrepreneurs in the 20th century like Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, Stanford White, and J.P. Morgan. Andrew Carnegie, although not mentioned in Ragtime, represented
Longman American History Atlas. New York: Longman Publishers USA, 1999. the law of competition. He argues that, "under the law of competition, the employer of thousands is forced into the strictest economies...often this [leads to] friction between employer and the employed". The friction of employer and employee paralleled the friction between the wealthy and poor. The law of competition may sound like a component of Social Darwinism because it is Carnegie's own interpretation of this philosophy. Carnegie believed that the law of competition ensured that the human race would progress. The law of competition was another form of Social Darwinism because it guaranteed the elite class would prosper at the expense of the working class. The elite class did not fully take advantage of the working class because they provided jobs and a steady income to the average man. Doctorow illustrates this point in Ragtime by showing how Coalhouse Walker was victimized. The North was supposed to be a land of freedom but African Americans were still treated as if they were sub-human. They were allowed to vote but this did little because they had no proper representation. It was difficult for blacks to depend on the court system for justice. Coalhouse tried to find justice through the courts but could not find an attorney that would represent him. Many African Americans were forced to resort to vigilante justice like in the case of Coalhouse. There was no justice for the African Americans because after Coalhouse surrendered he was killed thus being denied due process of law. the cost and time. According to Joseph T. Finnerty, "the chandelier that was made fourteen or fifteen years ago was all solid bronze- genuine work". Finnerty described the process that took one skilled man was divided within eight different men. Immigrants were not allowed to become skilled workers because then they could command higher pay. Immigrants also threatened American skilled workers because if these workers tried to from unions, the boss would "have forty to fifty men or boys [to replace them and] nobody would object". Immigrants were also discriminated against because they did jobs that Americans did not want. Immigrants were hated for obvious reason, but they were still higher i
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1529
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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