Pullman

A detailed Summary of Pullman

George Pullman was born on March 3, 1831 in Brocton, New York, but was raised in Portland. His philosophy of labor was the effect of his religious upbringing in the Universalist Church. Pullman's father instilled honesty and hard work in his children. When his father became ill and passed on, George Pullman took his place as the man of the house and also took over his father's work in construction.

In 1855, Mr. Pullman acquired a lot of work in Chicago due to Lake Michigan. "The land was only a few feet above the level of Lake Michigan...."(Buder p.5) In order to rectify the situation, the streets and buildings had to be raised. After completing impeccable "feats"(Buder p.5) such as raising the Tremont Hotel and raising an entire block of stores without so much as breaking a glass, George Pullman became very popular in the construction business. After the construction was completed and there wasn't any work left, he formed a partnership with a politician named Benjamin Field and his brother Norman. Together they began constructing the perfect sleeping car.

After many trials and tribulations, the Pioneer was constructed. The Pioneer received its publicity when it was first used to carry the body of president Lincoln dur

In 1880, George Pullman put his ideas about joining capital and labor to work when he began constructing the model town. He chose to purchase land in the Calumet region because of "...the fertility of the soil, the excellent nature of the topography, and the presence of vast clay deposits."(Almont p.38) The town was extraordinary, the buildings and homes were grand in its presence and were intended to give people a sense of living in middle class style. No more slums, prostitution, liquor or unsanitary habitats that poor working class people were used to living in. By taking them out of the slums, their lifestyle and habits would change making their work performance 100% better. Consequently, profits would go up for their employer.

After reading the popular novel "Put Yourself in His Place" by Charles Reade, Mr. Pullman became interested in the living conditions and the labor problems the society faced. "Put Yourself in His Place" is a novel that depicts the conflict between capital and labor, and asks the employer to put himself in the employees' shoes. Pullman thought that if the poor working class people were taken out of their unhealthy environment and put to live in middle class conditions, they would in turn be better employees. Giving the employees better homes in a nicer area would have a positive effect on their performance

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Approximate Word count = 910
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: People