Laissez-faire dominance and its consequences.
Laissez-faire means “let it be done” in French. Simply put, is the idea is to leave things alone and not interfere.
In economic contexts, laissez-faire was an important part of free-market capitalism in the late 19th and early 20th century which favoured minimal government intervention in economic affairs. Those who favoured this approach were liberals.
Laissez-faire was also linked to ideas of Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism is a term coined by Herbert Spencer who argued that competition resulted in “survival of the fittest”. Spencer believed that the naturally fittest members of society should be allowed to succeed and that the “unfit” should not be prevented from dying out. Social Darwinists believed that any government intervention would interfere with the natural evolution of society.
Consequences of laissez-faire
The concept of laissez-faire was intrinsically linked to ideas of the American Dream. People believed anyone could prosper and gain fortune if they worked hard and were lucky.
However this did not apply to reality as outcomes weren’t dependent on how hard an individual or a small business has worked.
This philosophy contributed to the poverty gap getting wider.
The main problem with laissez-faire was that the market left unregulated created conditions in which most American workers suffered.
Millions of men and women and children worked extremely long hours for little pay.
Fighting back against laissez-faire
In the 1880s, labour unions emerged in order to fight for workers' rights.
These organisations fought for more regulation over working conditions and wages through legislation.
Strikes and protests happened and they often turned violent.
Their success was limited as it was undermined by pro-business Supreme Court rulings.
Laissez-faire politics also began to draw criticism in journalism and literature.
By the 1880s, an increasing number of politicians felt that they had to take action against the consequences of laissez-faire. They didn’t want to, but they felt like the public opinion was forcing their hands.
During the 1880s, 27 states, mostly in the south and west, passed laws to reduce the power of cartels and trusts.
The impact of the end of the frontier
The Frontier was the term given to the expanse of land in the west, which the United States expanded and settled into over the course of the 19th century.
The idea of the Frontier was greatly romanticised and it was linked to concepts of Manifest Destiny.
Manifest Destiny refers to the concept that the expansion of the United States across the North American continent was destined by God.
The expansion westwards was aided by the development of railroads, the discovery of natural resources, and government policies such as the Homestead Act of 1862.
This expansion led to economic growth and social changed in the USA.
However, by 1890 this period of expansion was over, and in that same year, the US Census Bureau declared the closure of the Frontier, meaning there was now no land in the west without settlers.
Railways directly connected the whole country, there was no settled area which remained cut off, most of the Western states had been granted statehood, and cities in the west such as San Diego, San Francisco, and Seattle, were quickly urbanising.
The end of the Frontier was also hugely significant for the collective American psyche because the notion of an ever-pioneering nature, with new lands to conquer, had become part of what it meant to be American. The Frontier was intrinsically linked to American national identity
The Frontier represented a feeling of endless possibilities for many Americans as the Frontier appeared to be limitless.
The Frontier gave Americans the ability to escape for a better life in the West. It gave them new opportunities.
The Frontier acted as a safety valve for the nation: in times of hardship, Americans in poverty could migrate West and settle on the Frontier. Very few Americans did this however.
In 1893 Fredrick Jackson Turner wrote “The Significance of the Frontier in American History,” the ideas in his work came to be known as the "Turner Thesis.” He suggested the following:
American history was the story of the expansion and settlement in, the west.
The Frontier defined what it meant to be American. It represented self-reliance and individual. It was both a physical and symbolic move away from the constraints of European influence i.e. Americans shape America’s future rather than it being shaped by others.
The Frontier represented opportunity and ambition, and its loss, especially in such an abrupt way, was also the loss of the very foundation of American culture.
The Turner Thesis was criticised since it was centred on the perspective of white men only. Turner’s interpretation of the importance of the Frontier was only relevant to white, English-speaking, and for the most part, male Americans.
It failed to recognise the ideas and experiences of different demographics like Hispanics, Native Americans, African Americans, and women, who were shaped differently and for whom the Frontier represented different things.
Especially for Native Americans the Frontier represented a loss of culture and the destruction of their way of life.