INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION AND THE ROLE THE
GOVERNMENT
Prior
industrial revolution, the government had adopted the laissez-faire approach
where the government had little involvement in what the businesses were doing.
However, with the industrial revolution, there was much at stake because people
no longer worked at their home. They had migrated to the urban area to work for
big companies. The government had to play an essential role in preventing the
development of monopolies and protect the rights of the workers within these
companies. The federal government, therefore, created bureaucracies and passed
laws to enable the protect the workers and prevent the development of
monopolies (Harris, n.d.).
Two significant laws that were passed
during this time were the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 and the Sherman
Anti-Trust Act of 1890. The Interstate Commerce Act prevented railroad
companies from abusing their industrial advantages (Harris, n.d.). The primary
purpose of Sherman Anti-Trust Act was to protect the rights of emerging
companies and their workers. The Sherman Anti-Trust law was its first of its
kind in the United States, and its purpose was to prevent monopoly by making
the government the absolute power with the ability to dissolve trusts as they
would be a source of competition in the marketplace and would hurt the emerging
companies ("The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 - Economics", n.d.).
Other than protecting the rights of
emerging companies and their workers, the government expanded the commerce and
labor department accommodate Children’s Bureau. The bureau was to take care of
the welfare of children and families. The bureau would later put pressure on
the Congress to enact laws that would protect children workers. The government
also provided infrastructural development support. As a result, there was the
easy transportation of raw materials to the factories and even the finished
products to the consumers. It, therefore, intensified the development of these
companies (Harris, n.d.).
In conclusion, the government’s role
changed from being a spectator to protecting the rights of the minority in the
revolution and even supporting the industrial revolution.
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