“Life in Iron Mills” by Rebecca Harding tells of life for people working in the iron mills in the late 1800’s. Harding paints a picture of life for the lower class in 1861 that is eerily similar to life today. This is because just like today, the poor were oppressed by the need to consistently fight for the necessities of life, that most were unable to rise above their station in life. Eventually, the need just to make just enough in life to survive caused many people to become blind to the fact that they were being hindered by industrialization and Capitalism. Industrialism worked to create outstanding wealth for a very small percentage of Americans.
However, since the small percentage of wealthy provide the largest amount of wealth for the
