Verified Document

Great Depression And Wealth Essay

Primary Source Analysis The document and work under review within this section is a chapter that is titled Wealth Against the Commonwealth. It was authored by Henry Damarest Lloyd and it came out in 1894. The work was published in New York. The opening salvo from the work is that nature is wealthy but that man is poor. What is meant by this is that not everyone is fed when it comes to the men and women of the people and it is asserted that this is true since time began, to use the words of the author himself. A perfect example of this is say when Lloyd says "the majority have never been able to buy enough of anything, but this minority have too much of everything to sell" (Lloyd, 1894). Lloyd then talks about a major dichotomy that exists when it comes to liberty. Lloyd talks about how liberty produces wealth but that wealth also destroys liberty. Lloyd notes that big businesses with monopolies and other people with wealth are able to engage in "gluttonous" behavior while there are others that are left with little to nothing in comparison. Lloyd uses the term "Caesar" to describe those that are dominant and well-to-do as compare to the meager subjects that struggle with not nearly enough of their own [footnoteRef:1]. [1: Lloyd, H. D. 2016. "Excerpt from Henry Demarest Lloyd Wealth Against Commonwealth 1894 < 1876-1900 < Documents < American History from Revolution to Reconstruction And Beyond." Let.Rug.Nl. http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1876-1900/excerpt-from-henry-demarest-lloyd-wealth-against-commonwealth-1894.php.]

Rather than keep things general, Lloyd gets to specifics. He decries businesses that can artificially toy with and otherwise...

There are words about how a sugar producer can close a refinery or change production so as to change the prevailing price of the product. Lloyd then talks about how "barbarians" will destroy society. Rather than saving that term for the people at the bottom of the economic ladder, Lloyd instead suggests that the barbarians are the rich that are able to control and otherwise dominate the poor. Lloyd suggests that the moral and character-related fiber of American business and wealth is "morbid" and that "property to the extent of uncounted millions has been changed from the possession of the many who owned it to the few who hold it (Lloyd, 1894). Even with the ostensible fairness of the system as it existed in the country at the time, Lloyd is also saying that the system has become many bad things including artificial, technical and corrupt, to use the words that Lloyd used [footnoteRef:2]. [2: Lloyd, H. D. 2016. "Excerpt from Henry Demarest Lloyd Wealth Against Commonwealth 1894 < 1876-1900 < Documents < American History from Revolution to Reconstruction And Beyond." Let.Rug.Nl. http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1876-1900/excerpt-from-henry-demarest-lloyd-wealth-against-commonwealth-1894.php.]
Author

The author whose work is quoted above is rather famous for his work. He was born in 1947 in the city of New York City. He died in 1903 in Chicago, a mere decade or so after the work quoted above. His penchant and common work was the expose that focused on the abuses that were deemed to be rendered by industrial monopolies. He is deemed to be a "classic" author of what has come to be known as muckraking journalism. Lloyd's educational credentials were quite advanced in that he went to Columbia University and then later was admitted to the bar in 1869. He later joined the staff of the Chicago Tribune and worked there for more than a decade, about 13 years in total, in the literary, financial and…

Sources used in this document:
Bibliography

Brittanica. 2016. "Henry Demarest Lloyd - American Journalist." Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Henry-Demarest-Lloyd.

Cole, Lee. 2016. "Misguided Government Policies Prolonged Great Depression." UCLA Newsroom. http://newsroom.ucla.edu/stories/misguided-government-policies-80595.

Lloyd, H. D. 2016. "Excerpt From Henry Demarest Lloyd Wealth Against Commonwealth 1894 < 1876-1900 < Documents < American History From Revolution To Reconstruction And Beyond." Let.Rug.Nl. http://www.let.rug.nl/usa/documents/1876-1900/excerpt-from-henry-demarest-lloyd-wealth-against-commonwealth-1894.php.

Thoma, Mark. 2016. "The Great Lesson From The Great Recession." The Fiscal Times. http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2013/08/27/The-Great-Lesson-from-the-Great-Recession.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Great Depression Angela Thomas the Great Depression
Words: 1171 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Great Depression Angela Thomas The Great Depression was a pivotal time in the history of the United States and as a result, American business, banking, agriculture and society were drastically altered. It is commonly believed that the crash of the New York stock market at the end of October 1929 caused the Great Depression, but in reality this turbulent period of American history was brought on by a number of factors. And

Great Depression of the Early
Words: 3857 Length: 15 Document Type: Term Paper

In fact, from 1923-1929 corporate profits rose 62% and dividends rose 65%." (McElvaine R.S. p. 39) This is further evidence not only of the inequality of general wealth distribution, but also of the severe imbalance that was to create havoc in the economy. This dilemma was also further exacerbated by the fact that the Federal Government encouraged this situation. For example, President Coolidge signed the Revenue Act of 1926, which

Great Recession V Great Depression
Words: 1288 Length: 4 Document Type: Essay

Depression V Recession The Great Recession of 2009, which in economic terms lasted two quarters but for many people stretched out quite a bit longer, was billed as the worst economic event since the Great Depression. This provides us with an opportunity to examine the two events, their respective time periods, and what sort of similarities and differences we can determined between them. The 1920s were known as the roaring twenties, and

Great Depression Was One of
Words: 2537 Length: 8 Document Type: Thesis

Thus, when stricter regulations should have been implemented, they were not, and the avoidable became utterly unavoidable. The president Hoover's initial reaction was to allow the market to fix itself, thus going alongside his lassiez-faire beliefs. Yet, he was forced by Congress to act, but did so minimally (Wilkison 1). Thus, it was not long before the nation was in demand of a more hands on president who was

Great Depression Was the Single Most Significant
Words: 1046 Length: 3 Document Type: Essay

Great Depression was the single most significant economic catastrophe of the 20th century, brought on by a lack of the ability to control monetary pricing as well as a period of sustained high unemployment. Unlike modern economies, pre-Great Depression governments did not have many tools to sway the economy one way or the other, there was a long standing belief in "laissez faire" capitalism, with the premise that all markets

Great Depression New Deal Voices Protest in
Words: 2084 Length: 8 Document Type: Case Study

Great Depression New Deal Voices Protest In this essay, the author will discuss the importance of Huey Long and Father Coughlin in shaping the course of the New Deal. Since Brinkley also mentions Charles Townsend's social security ideas, it will also be necessary to consider them as well. It is the author's position that Alan Brinkley is largely correct that these individuals forced the president Franklin Delano Roosevelt to move left

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now