1865-1900
...s a very significant development in US history, but it very sternly contrasted the concepts of self-reliance. People of every business had to rely on the railroads to provide them with raw materials and/or deliver their goods to be finished or delivered to the public. Another aspect of history that dramatically reduced self-reliance was the trust. This practice put the power of companies, and sometimes whole industries in the hands of few or one person. The cases of Andrew Carnegie and John Rockefeller were the most prominent. These men controlled entire industries in the US and used their power to their advantage. They used railroad-rate discrimination, espionage, bonus companies, price-slashing, and other reprehensible practices. These practices prevented small business owners and companies from making the fortunes they felt they deserved. These huge companies would buy out many if not all the smaller companies that gave them competition, forcing everybody to use their products and services, making them completely reliant upon them. One of the biggest reasons that people became less reliant on themselves was the massive onslaught of inventions that hit the country in this time period. Christopher Sholes invented the typewriter, creating a market for clerical jobs so the businessmen wouldn’t have to type things for themselves. Numerous other inventions, such as the adding machine, quickened the pace of business transactions, and made life a little easier. None of these inventions could ever stand up to that of Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone. This made communication possible over long distances, making business much faster, but causing businessmen to become reliant upon it. If they did not follow the times and use the telephone they would fall drastically behind and possibly go out of business. This was the case with many businesses becoming reliant upon certain inventions and products, they had to keep up with the times, or be left behind, so they chose to abandon self-reliance for the sake of keeping up with business. Another huge invention was the electric light. This has become one of the most relied on devices in the world. Everybody began to switch to the illumination power of the electric light bulb. One of the most prominent inventions in the way of industry was the power plant and a transformer that could transmit high voltage alternating current efficiently, safely, and cheaply over long distances. This allowed factories to move away from water sources and spread throughout the country. It is obvious how many people became completely reliant upon this invention, especially businesses. America’s migration to the cities also proved to decline the belief in self-reliance. The old beliefs that went back as far as Jefferson promoted a farming life of hard work and dedication, but it seemed that this belief was becoming more and more a thing of the past. Immigration to the US grew at a rapid pace and the rate of farmers and other people moving to the city was astronomical. The city became the place to be for anybody who wanted to succeed. But there was a big surprise to many who moved to the city, slums and poverty were rampant and political bosses controlled nearly everything, from industry to politics. Mostly the migration to the city was merely a philosophical abandonment of the beliefs of self-reliance that Thomas Jefferson had established long in the past. Public schools were a prominent development of this time period as well. This too can be viewed as an abandonment of self-reliance as well. It allowed parents to rely on school systems and public education to educate their children, and it allowed the uneducated adults to rely on the adult education programs to educate them. So in some sense, this was another form of declining self-reliance. Possibly one the largest arguments that America had abandoned the doctrine of self-reliance was American citizens demand for government regulation. Jefferson ...