EP 35: The United Fruit Company

Do you like bananas? You might not after listening to this week's episode. This week on Hashtag History, we are diving into one of our most corrupt topics yet: The United Fruit Company. The United Fruit Company was an American company formed in 1899 to grow and trade bananas that ended up going on to control nearly all transportation across all of Central America, Colombia, Ecuador, and the West Indies. This control extended to the political and economic realms with the United Fruit Company essentially using capitalism to control the entire banana republic. When workers of the United Fruit Company requested formal, written employment contracts which included eight hour work days, six day work weeks, and actual paychecks, the local Colombian government opened fire killing anywhere from 47 to 2,000 people!

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THANKS FOR LISTENING!

- Rachel and Leah