Two things really surprised me about the last half of
chapter 17. First was that, despite horrible working conditions and wages, no socialist
party was able to take hold in the United States; and the party even became
known as “un-American”. I understood how this was affected by the diverse
population and the rapid economic growth, but it still surprised me that workers
weren’t able to come together through common interest and benefit to improve their
working and living conditions. I wonder how different American government and
social life would be today if socialism took off during the Industrial
Revolution.
Secondly,
I was surprised and somewhat impressed that the Tsar of Russia initiated
changes within his political structure, especially the ‘freeing of the serfs in
1861’ (Strayer, 590). I can understand why he would want to catch up with the
rest of the world but most governments were forced to make changes due to
upheavals/strikes/revolutions. I wonder if he could have predicted the changes
he would be forced to make after this if he still would have decided to
initiate change within Russia. It is really unfortunate that these changes led to
so many violent revolutions and caused so many hardships. The industrial revolution
varied depending on the region that it was occurring; personally I believe it
was most successful in Europe and the United States.
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