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Pages:
3 pages/≈825 words
Sources:
31 Sources
Style:
Chicago
Subject:
Social Sciences
Type:
Essay
Language:
English (U.S.)
Document:
MS Word
Date:
Total cost:
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Topic:

Class Formation, Labor Markets, Labor Productivity, General Strike, and Substantive Rights

Essay Instructions:

No need to use all the resources provided, but only use these sources to answer the questions. Use on page to answer part1 and two pages for part2.
Part 1:
Provide brief identification for FIVE of the following terms. Be sure to include a definition of the item, an approximate date (the decade or general time frame is fine), and the significance of the item as it relates to the themes of this class.
Class Formation
Labor Markets
Labor Productivity
General Strike
Formal / Substantive Rights
Part 2:
Answer the essay question below. Your responses should be in the form of a formal argumentative essay, with an intro paragraph that summarizes your argument and contains a clear thesis statement, body paragraphs that support and provide evidence for your position, and a concluding paragraph. Your responses should draw on material from readings and lectures. Crucial to answering each of the questions is explaining how and why these themes have changed over time.
Question: This course began with EP Thompson's ideas about class formation. We have explored a wide swath of American labor history, from working class women, to industrial workers, emancipation, and other moments. Have you seen moments of class formation in this material? Where? What explains whether and when class formation happened in this moment?

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Two Part Assignment
Name
Institution Affiliation
Professor
Course
Date
Part 1
According to Thompson, Class formation was a historical phenomenon whose origin began in the 18th and early 19th centuries. He describes it as a historical process by which the men and women of the English working class developed a consciousness of a distinct identity with distinct interests. The class formation took place during the French revolution, where the ruling class used the government to suppress the revolutionary ferment. In addition, the counter-revolution prohibited large gatherings or protests by using espionage, trials, arrest, and imprisonment. The working class responded to this by counter-revolution and exploitation through capitalism.[E. P. Thompson, Making of English Working Class (Harmondsworth, Middlesex: Penguin, 1980).]
Further, in the 1840s, the industrial revolution in the United States transformed cities such as Lowell from being quiet to being the first footprint of the revolution. Women provided an industrial labor force and worked under harsh conditions which were compensated with higher wages. However, the mistreatment in their workplace made them organize protests and strikes. In addition, women did not have the right to own properties and possessions in the 1800s. Having money made them power within themselves, which resulted in a first-ever strike in the United States. The mill girls and male employees refused to go to work and demanded better treatment in the workplace.[Helen Zia, Asian American Dreams: The Emergence of an American People (New York: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2001).]
In addition, the labor market in the United States refers to the supply of and demand for labor, in which employers provide the demand, while employees provide the demand. In the 1790–1840s; 1840s‐1920s; and 1920s‐1960s, The elite, who were white, enslaved people and sold them to lower-class whites to work in the plantations and households. This system created gender roles and racism in which men were subjected to hard labor while women and children served in their master's households. Thus, the labor market was established by capitalism and the slave trade among the elite.[Matthew Frye Jacobson, “Becoming Caucasian: Vicissitudes of Whiteness in American Politics and Culture,” Identities 8, no. 1 (2001): pp. 83-104, https://doi.org/10.1080/1070289x.2001.9962685]
Labor productivity is the number of goods or services produced per slave. This created a class formation as women were subjected to less tiring jobs compared to strong men who performed difficult tasks. Substantive rights comprise civil and political rights, such as the rights to life, freedom of association, and freedom from discrimination; economic and social rights such as rights to health, food, and an adequate standard of living; cultural rights such as rights to access religious places. This was experienced when the minority demanded equal rights from their masters and the government.;
Therefore, Class Formation- a historical process by which the men and women of the English working class developed a consc...
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