MBA Essay:分析大企業對經濟和政治的影響以及美國對這些變化的反應

美國南北戰爭（1861-1865年）廢除了南方的奴隸制，保證了美國的統一，為經濟和政策的發展掃清了奴隸制的障礙。與此同時，西進運動擴大了國內市場，吸引了大量的歐洲移民，為他們提供了大量的勞動力。美國首次在機械零件上應用了標準化生產，提高了機床的普及率，加快了工業發展的步伐。此外，良好的地理環境和豐富的自然資源為工業的發展提供了和平的生產環境。具體地說，在美國內戰后，公司在數量和影響力上有了顯著的增長。大型企業實現快速發展的主要原因是大量廉價勞動力的出現和政府對新興企業的扶持政策。

 

The Civil War (1861-1865) in United States abolished the slavery in the south and ensured the unity of the United States, which cleared the obstacles of slavery for development on both economy and policy. At the same time, the Westward movement expanded the domestic market and attracted a large number of European immigrants, which provided a lot of labor. The United State has firstly applied the standardized production on machine component, which improve the penetration rate of the machine and accelerated the pace of industrial development. Moreover, the excellent geographical environment and rich natural resource provide a peaceful production environment for the development of industrial. Specifically, in the post-Civil War United States, corporations grew significantly in number size and influence. According to Nash et al. (2010), the main reason for achieving such a rapid development on the large enterprises are the emergence of a larger number of cheap labor and the government support policies for emerging enterprises.

 

The impact of big business on the economy of United States 大企業對美國經濟的影響

During the period from 1870 to 1900, the United States has developed large-scale enterprises, and became leader in the era of mass production technology. In specific, the Civil War (1861-1865) in United States abolished the slavery in the south and ensured the unity of the United States, which cleared the obstacles of slavery for development on both economy. During the post-civil War ear, there is a unified national market, the domestic market has expanded rapidly. The liberation of millions of slaves in South provided a huge labor force for the industrial. In addition, with the collapse of slavery and the infiltration of capital in the north, the southern industry has developed rapidly. At the same time, the south agriculture has provided a steady stream of industry raw materials for the north industry. The United State has firstly applied the standardized production on machine component, which improve the penetration rate of the machine and accelerated the pace of industrial development. During the post -civil war ear, the small-scale peasant economy has gradually replaced by the large-scale enterprises. The entire agriculture has realized the system mechanization, and the United States had the highest labour productivity in the world. In other words, the agriculture had not only meet the national needs, but also had a large part of agricultural products for export. For example, according to the historical statistics of the United States in 1870 to 1899, all index of food prices, fuel and lighting prices and cost of living index shown significant decrease from 1870 to 1890 and stayed relatively stable prices from 1890 to 1899. In other words, the big business made the price of agriculture down. Moreover, in the industrial production, the big business had used the integrated mass product. In specific, using the scientific management, they developed long term planning, and use the standard material with minimum cost and high quality. #p#分頁標題#e#

 

On the other hand, a large number of immigrants created the favorable conditions for the industrialization process of United States. The immigration community provides a large number of skilled workers and engineering and technical personnel for the industrialization of the United States, and had promoted the innovation of American production technology. The United States had organized the product factors of finance, resource and human, and had fairly use these product factors to play higher production efficiency. Thus, the immigrants have created enormous wealth, which provide the necessary funds for the realization of industrialization. Moreover, more and more females began to go to work, which also provide a larger number of labor resource. 

 

The impact of big business on the policy of United States 大企業對美國政策的影響

In the post-Civil War United States, corporations grew significantly in number size and influence. Specifically, during the post-civil War ear, the industrial bourgeoisie monopolized the state power and implemented a series of powerful policies for economy development. The policies mainly include the policy of supporting trade by adopting preferential measures, the policy of constructing the railway for developing the western land, the policy of the continuation on the protective tariff, the policy of encouraging foreigner immigration, the policy of introducing foreign capital, absorption of foreign advanced technology and management system, the policy of concerning technology and developing education, and so on. The implementation of policies and measures accelerated the pace of economic development, which make the United States a highly developed capitalist country. 

For example, based on Joseph Keppler (1889), the bosses of big business have controlled the Senate. These bosses of big business had very large power, whose whim is law. They can even control legislative bodies, dictate legislation and guide the policies of government. In other words, the big business implemented a series of policies to protect their profits in United States to the period 1870 to 1900George and McNeill (1887). 

 

The responses of American to these changes 美國對這些變化的反應

These changes have brought three of these most serious social responses. The thirst response is the polarization of society and the increasing gap between rich and poor. The poverty of the majority American workers is due to the owner of the enterprise pocketed most of the profits, so that the polarization of the community is inevitable. This would promote the American workers to fight against the factory owners by forming trade unions. In specific, according to Nash et al. (2010), during the period from 1881 to 1905, the total number of American workers’ strikes is 36757, and the number of involved American workers is as much as 6 million. The wanted to develop the People’s Party Platform and to end the oppression, injustice and poverty. On the other hand, the United States also created a number of middle class, which became the stabilizer of American society. For example, according to David (1889), the individual in this ear was no longer independently works, and each one was only part of society. #p#分頁標題#e#

 

Secondly, due to the big business, the United States remains a cyclical economic crisis. During the post-Civil War ear, there were two big economic crisis, the first economic crisis is in 1873-1879, and the second economic crisis is in 1893 – 1897.  Lastly, the massive industrialization brought a variety of industrial pollution. For example, by the end of the nineteenth century, the pollution of rivers and lakes in the Midwest and Eastern United States had been very severe. 

 

Conclusion  結論

The Civil War abolished the slavery in the south and ensured the unity of the United States, which cleared the obstacles of slavery for development on both economy. The small-scale peasant economy has gradually replaced by the large-scale enterprises.On the other hand, a large number of immigrants created the favorable conditions for the industrialization process of United States.To sum up, in the post-civil War ear, there was rapid economic development and the United States had been translated into industrialized country from agricultural country. In addition, during the post-civil War ear, the industrial bourgeoisie monopolized the state power and implemented a series of powerful policies for economy development. Lastly, the big business had caused he polarization of society and the increasing gap between rich and poor. The United States remains a cyclical economic crisis and the massive industrialization brought a variety of industrial pollution.