The Rise Of Industrialization

     Not only did a big portion of the urban working class experience unsuitable working conditions, but their pay and skill level was often not enough to promote them out of industrial employment. Employees found themselves trapped with employers and earning low wages, with many hovering in the poverty range. Reform was necessary to help the poor. Now, with the strife-torn 1890s behind them, reform became an absorbing concern of many Americans (597).

The Industrial Revolution was of great importance to the economic development of the United States. The new era of mass production kindled in the United States because of technological innovations, a patent system, new forms of factory corporations, a huge supply of natural resources, and foreign investment. The growth of large-scale industry in America had countless positive results, but also negative results as well. Industrialization after the Civil War affected the United States in several ways including poverty, poor labor laws, and the condition of the people.

Between 1865 and 1920, industrialization caused significant changes in many people’s lives. First, the development of a new railroad system help settle the west and made it more accessible to people. Second, public transit systems in big cities provided an outlet from congested cities. Last, the discovery of a method for transmitting electricity helped to light up our daily lives. I feel that these are three of the most important changes in people’s lives caused by industrialization.

Looking at the insight from historians such as: Roy Rosenzweig, Nick Salvatore, and Lizabeth Cohen, on the history of American labor, we can better understand the issues, challenges, and successes of ordinary Americans during a time when industrial capitalism and corporations took over as the leading principle in American society. The depth of character of immigrants or ordinary Americans to meet the demanding needs of what an industrial society requires is truly amazing. I have reviewed three historical monographs in accordance to their copyright and each describe how persistent ordinary, working class Americans confronted or beat back those demanding needs. The order is as follows: Eight Hours For What We Will by Roy Rosenzweig; Eugene

As Mexicans were dispossessed of their land, they became poor and often had to take on dangerous jobs. Mexican laborers were important to the market revolution because they made up a majority of the laborers that built the Texas and Mexican railroad that helped connect multiple parts of the United States. Although farm and mine owners often called Mexican laborers good workers, they treated them as inferiors. For doing the same work, Mexican workers were paid less than white workers that did the same work. In the workforce, a social and power hierarchy could be seen as well. On ranches and in mines, the managers were white while the workers that did the manual labor were Mexican. In addition, white collar jobs were more willing to hire Anglos, which left most Mexican workers with blue collar jobs, which paid less than white collar jobs and were more dangerous. This shows contradiction because Mexicans did not have the same chances to get jobs and wages as Anglos, even if they had the same skillset. This also shows contradiction because despite the owners’ belief that Mexican laborers were diligent workers, they paid them

As a New York businessman in the early 20th century launching into a new era of industrial growth in business, maximizing profits is a top priority. Employing as many workers as possible, with as little pay as possible is the goal. Company’s can do this because the new implementation of machines in their factories is on the incline, putting unskilled labor at the bottom of the pay scale. Why pay top dollar for a worker to do the same job a machine can do faster and for less? Unskilled labor in big factories were now the only job people can get, forcing them to accept pay that is next to nothing. Children are being put to work now by their families to help bring home

The end of the Civil War marked a new integration of industry into American society. Following the war, high tariffs were put in place to compensate for the national debt that were created. The increase in tariffs also promoted domestic industries which became more critical in America. A major shift can be seen during this time, known as the Gilded Age, toward a more industrialized society rather than an agricultural one. One major influence toward this industrialized society was the building of the transcontinental railroad which ran from East to West coast. Finished in 1869, the Railroad allowed for more transport which also benefited the rising of big businesses. Regional companies could become national companies and thus changed the way people looked at industrialization. This industrialization affected the working class the most which consisted of the industrial workers and farmers. One would think that the “Gilded Age” would mean prosperity would be felt throughout the economy but the elite 1% of the population had more money than the rest of the population combined. This did not sit well with the working class, especially the industrial workers, who were the ones making the profit for the elites. However, each the farmers and industrial workers had their own way in which they responded to the industrialization of the Gilded Age.

The Industrial Revolution was a revolution in every sense of the word, as it altered almost every aspect of live in the nineteenth century including technology, government, communication, environment and eventually society as a whole.1 Although industrialisation created many positives for modern society, for people in Britain up to the end of the nineteenth century it had many significantly negative consequences. With the long term advances made for society came the then current development of overcrowding cities abundant with pollution, health problems and poor living conditions for the working class. These poor conditions continued into the work place with young children exploited as workers as young as the age of four or five.2 There were consequences of the Industrial Revolution for people outside of the core of Britain. India, being the periphery in the model were exploited for their raw materials which were exported to Britain.

In late 1863, shortly after major union victories at the battles of Gettysburg, congress alongside President Abraham Lincoln began to consider plans of reuniting the north with the south. This sparked the start of the reconstruction era. The goal of this era was to ultimately readmit the south into the Union and grant the slaves emancipation. Lincoln’s strategy for reconstruction included the Ten Percent Plan. This plan specified that southern states could be readmitted into the Union, if 10 percent of the eligible voters from the voter rolls in the 1860 election pledged their allegiance to the Union and support the emancipation of the slaves.

By the time of the Civil War, the technologies upon which the First Industrial Revolution was based were established in the United States. In the years following the war, the nation's industrial energies were focused on completing the railroad and telegraph networks of the North, rebuilding those of the South, and expanding those of the West. Once the devastating depression of the 1870’s depleted, the stage was set for the Second Industrial Revolution.

Following the end of the American Civil war, the Industrial Revolution came rushing in and brought with it tremendous changes – the mechanization of agriculture, the invention of steam and electricity used machinery led to mass production factories, and the emergence of a massive railroad system. Change in the economy and society brought great wealth to the United States. Consequently, it was a giant magnet for immigrations. However, the distribution of wealth across the population was not even. The American working class in the last half of nineteenth century suffered from poverty and oppression. Several documentations and stories were written in response to the people suffering. Two of them - “Child Labor in The Canning Industry of Maryland” by Lewis W. Hine and “Maggie: A Girl of The Streets” by Stephen Crane - vividly described the living and working conditions for the working poor.

At the same time, as we learned in class, America’s population grew because of labor mobility. People began to migrate from rural to urban areas, and from Europe to North America, in search of better economic opportunities, and to improve their lives. The job market became more and more competitive Hubert Gutman’s “Work, Culture, and Society in Industrializing America 1815-1919” sheds light on the struggle of farmers and tradesmen who were forced into unskilled labor positions during the industrial revolution and the many new immigrants that were finding their way to America Gutman states, “A factory worker in New

Think about your life for one second: you communicate with people, travel, make purchases, and utilize those commodities. But have you ever wondered what made those things possible? After all, you go to the store to buy things you need. You drive a car to work and to visit your friends. If you need to talk to someone, you simply pick up your phone or computer. However, none of this would be possible without a means of communication, factories to manufacture the products you need, places to work, and ways to travel and transport goods. And what made these possible? The answer is the Industrial Revolution, which started in Europe around the year 1730. A revolution is a major change or turning point in something. The Industrial Revolution

137 years later ASME is still alive. The ASME was founded in 1880 to provide engineers to discuss concerns about the rise of industrialization and mechanization. Founders where Alexander Lyman Holley, Henry Rossiter Worthington and John Edison Sweet. These men were the prominent machine builders and technical innovators of the late nineteenth century. The first meeting of the ASME was held in New York editorial offices of the American Machinist, on February 16th. There were only thirty people who attend the first meeting which was chaired by Holley. From this date onward, the society ran into formal meetings discussing the development of standard tools and machine parts. However in 1905 a major turning point gave new definition to ASME’s purpose.

The Industrial Revolution was the quintessence of capitalistic ideals; it bred controversy that led to Karl Marx’s idea of communism as a massive grass roots reaction to the revolution’s social abuses. Firstly, the Industrial Revolution featured the construction of machines, systems and factories that allowed goods to be manufactured at a faster rate with a lower cost. The seed drill made it so there could be “a semi-automated, controlled distribution and plantation of wheat seed”(Jones 2013). Secondly, there was a great social and economic divide between the wealthy owners and the poor workers, which gave rise to the mass’s vulnerability to the advent of extreme socialism. Figures of authority severely oppressed their employees by giving them insufficient pay, a treacherous work environment, and even making some children work more than 12 hours per day (Cranny 150). Finally, far right capitalism created a brutal boom and bust cycle of economics that made, for the multitude at the bottom, a perpetual nightmare of poverty and death. People responded to this social situation by taking part in violent protests; oppression sires rebellion. The Industrial Revolution was the chassis of great imagination and progress of political, economic, and social force that still affects this world today.