I think
that late 19th Century social institutions were profoundly impacted by industrialization. The
process of moving the nations from one of farms to factories had made Industrialization impact
nearly every element of daily life in America. No institution was really "safe" from
it as it became a transformative agent of social, economic, and cultural life. Consider Howard
Zinn's perspective on this:
Control in modern times
requires more than force, more than law. Itrequires that a population dangerously concentrated
in cities and factories, whose lives are filledwith cause for rebellion, be taught that all is
right as it is. And so, the schools, the churches,the popular literature taught that to be rich
was a sign of superiority, to be poor a sign of personalfailure, and that the only way upward
for a poor person was to climb into the ranks of the rich byextraordinary effort and
extraordinary luck.
Industrialization ends up impacting
social institutions such as churches and schools by teaching the idea that being rich and
possessing wealth was an intrinsic good. Schools were organized in a manner where control of
the teacher was not questioned, helping to reaffirm the Industrialist power structure.
Instruction was predicated upon grasping rudimentary concepts, segmented from a larger aim of
questioning social and economic reality. The concentration of population into cities made it
easier for the religious authority to stress the idea of hard work and dedication to one's
economic labor will result in afterlife benefits. The notion of being wealthy, participating in
a game that was heavily stacked against the middle class or the factory worker, was seen as
something "blessed" or inherently good. There was little questioning of the
structure, ensuring that the Industrialists claims were not doubted and received in the highest
of lights. The institutions of schools and churches were just two of many institutions that
reflected such a Industrialist reality.
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