The mentions of wealth among the following primary sources created from 1880 to 1950 demonstrate a number of perspectives on wealth inequality.
Room at the Top: or, How to Reach Success, Happiness, Fame and Fortune(1883)
“Whether your life shall be successful or not, is a question which must be answered by yourself alone. It cannot be done by proxy. Temperance, frugality, honesty, and economy, accompanied by strong determination and perseverance, will bring you to the goal of success and prosperity. Nothing else will.” (141)
Craig Adam’s book Room at the Top: or, How to Reach Success, Happiness, Fame and Fortune is essentially his own interpretation of what enables an individual to gain wealth in the late 1800s. He discusses how traits like determination are crucial to success and compares succeeding or not succeeding to life and death. The importance he places on economic gain shows how the idea of wealth accumulation was being popularized as a more realistic concept at this time. While people before this period of industrialization could achieve wealth, it had become easier for those already in a position of relative privilege. Additionally, the new class of ultra-wealthy people who were emerging were more visible to the public and likely led to many books of this kind.
What Social Classes Owe to Each Other(1883)
“Those who are bound to solve the problems are the rich, comfortable, prosperous, virtuous, respectable, educated, and healthy; those whose right it is to set the problems are those who have been less fortunate or less successful in the struggle for existence. The problem itself seems to be, How shall the latter be made as comfortable as the former?” (9)
William Graham Sumners’s book What Social Classes Owe to Each Other does exactly what the title implies. Sumner explores the possibility of an obligation existing for a certain class to take responsibility for the difficulties of other classes. His reason for doing this is the obvious differences in the lives of the various classes in America. This book was written during the first part of the Gilded Age when the excesses of wealth were first starting to be seen. It is likely intended for a sophisticated audience who would perhaps be members of the class that may be obligated to help others. The book explores the idea of social class obligation through the lens of economic, social, and political circumstances, connecting it directly to the topic of this project.
Homestead: A Complete History of the Struggle of July 1892, between the Carnegie Steel Company, Limited, and the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers(1893)
“Mr. Carnegie has frequently challenged public notice by acts of philanthropy. He has given free baths and a free library to his native town of Dunfermline, a histological annex, known as the Carnegie laboratory to Bellevue Hospital, New York; a free library and music hall to Allegheny City; a free library and music hall, costing more than $1,000,000, to Pittsburgh; a free library to Edinburgh, Scotland, and similar donations to Braddock and other places where he has business interests.” (7)
Arthur Burgoyne’s Homestead: A Complete History of the Struggle of July 1892, between the Carnegie Steel Company, Limited, and the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers chronicles the events of the Homestead Strike. The Homestead Stike was a conflict between Andrew Carnegie’s Carnegie Steel Company and the union that its employees belonged to. The conflict was about a disagreement over wages and resulted in a strike where strikers fought with private security guards. The strike ended after the union lost public support. After the strike, there was a decrease in wages for steelworkers across the US. The events described in this led to further economic difficulty for members of a class that was already struggling during this time. The book also talks extensively about Andrew Carnegie and his life as an industrialist as well as a philanthropist. One of the more common perspectives found among sources is, understandably, the support of the ultra-wealthy engaging in charitable giving. Carnegie, as shown in this book, was among the most philanthropic of industrialists and set a standard for future members of the upper class.
Fifty Years in Wall Street(1908)
“At one time, we know, capitalists and leaders of industry too often either wholly ignored the discontent or appeals of the laboring people in their, or subject to their influence, or, if appreciating the causes of their discontent, showed no disposition whatever to right their wrongs, or even to define their own views and position, or make any attempt to defend their own side of the case.” (856)
Henry Clews writes about his experiences being exposed to large amounts of wealth in America in his book Fifty Years in Wall Street. Clews spent his career on Wall Street and uses this book to explain how people handled vast fortunes. The intended audience is likely people curious about the wealthy and people interested in learning about wealth management. The book talks about people with generational wealth like the Astors. It chronicles how they made their money as well as how they spent it. It also discusses the overall impact of business and industrial development on America. Both of these points are helpful in understanding wealth inequality during this time, especially how wealth was maintained within the upper class.