Industrialization revolutionized America in many ways as it touched almost every aspect of the countries pillars resulting in significant changes. The industrialization affected everything from the government to the people and their lifestyle as well as the country’s economy. Since the inception of the country, the industrial revolution has played a major role in the growth of America as well as contributed greatly towards its world power status. As a turning point in human history, it introduced important aspects such as technological growth and wealth into American society. In addition, industrialization played a major role in the division of the society into lower, middle and upper class, as well as other important issues such as gender economic equality, and racial rights, for instance, black people rights among others (Norton et al., 2011). Since industrialization is the driving force behind urbanization which makes the two inseparable. During this time, many small cities became urbanized as a result of the availability of raw materials and labor which played a key role in boosting the expansion of industries in and around the cities.
Primarily, industrialization after the Civil War touched Americans in three aspects, that is, the economic sector, the economy, and the society. One of the key effects of industrialization observed after the Civil War was a major change in the employment sector. Prior to the war, the employment sector was dominated by the males as they were the breadwinners of the families. Females had limited responsibilities and they could only work as housekeepers and carried out other insignificant and low-paying jobs (Pinchbeck, 2013). With South America founded on an agricultural foundation, most workers were involved in farming activities. Most women in this region both in urban and rural areas finally had a breakthrough in regard to employment and for the first time, they participated in paid labor both within and outside their homes (Pinchbeck, 2013). This was a great milestone as the nature of their work did not change that much. A large part of their work comprised their traditional duties that they were carrying out on the firms before the Civil War and subsequent industrialization.
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Another notable change introduced in America by the post-Civil War industrialization was the nature of development between the Northern and Southern America. The Southern largely relied on Agriculture and a large part of their product was cotton. They were no major industries in the south, hence much of the cotton produced was exported to the North and other parts of the world such as Europe for processing (Norton et al., 2011). The flourishing of the cotton agriculture is majorly attributed to an important factor of slavery which provided cheap farm labor. As a result, the cotton business played a key role in the development of infrastructure such as road and railway in South America as well as established a class of wealthy large farm owners. Unlike the South, North America economy was primarily driven by industrialization. It was more urbanized and had a large number of industries that attracted large numbers of workers from every corner of the world leading to faster growth of its cities and infrastructure (Hill, 2017). Not only was work readily available, but also the payment was relatively good, and the workers led a better lifestyle as compared to workers in the south. Consequently, this resulted in a faster-growing working industry in the North than in the south.
Industrialization also created a number of industrial tycoon entrepreneurs towards the 20 th century. Most of the tycoons established during this time proceeded to dominate certain fields of the economy as well as the political world. One of these wealthy individuals is Andrew Carnegie, a self-made steel tycoon during the 19 th century. He kicked off as one of the poor factory workers carrying out a series of jobs in the railroad industry (Norton et al., 2011). As an immigrant, he moved to America in the company of his family and settled in Allegheny, Pennsylvania from where he secured the first job that paid him $1.2 per week. In the following years, he worked in the railroad industry which enabled him to learn every aspect of the industry as well as the general principle of the business. This experience enabled him to be promoted to the superintendent position and later enabled him to work in the steel industry. He later quit his job and started a small steel business that he named Carnegie Steel Company. This company revolutionized the production of steel in America and proceeded to achieve great success in the steel industry. As a result, Carnegie managed to sell the company to J.P. Morgan for more than $400 million making him one of the richest people at the time (Hill, 2017).
Industrialization also produced another household tycoon in the name of Henry Ford. As an automobile entrepreneur, Ford became the first individual to invent and introduce the assembly line production in the vehicle industry. The availability and production of steel enabled Ford to produce cars for the American production. However, the production of the cars was slow due to lack of mass production, which resulted in the loss of time and resources as well as hiked the price of the cars. However, following his invention of the Model T car, its demand pushed for mass production. As such he designed and implemented the assembly line production model that would proceed to revolutionize the industry. Not only did this mode of production increase the production of the cars, but it also introduced specialization in the industry (Hill, 2017). This means that workers were tasked to carry out specific tasks and pass the car to the next worker to carry out the next task. Starting as a mechanic apprentice in Detroit, Ford proceeded to establish the famously known car company and brand, the Ford Motor Company in 1903. Following his introduction of assembly line production, he realized one-hundred percent growth which saw him became the first person to raise the minimum wage to $5 per day (Hill, 2017). In so doing, he managed to establish loyalty and maintain all his experienced loyal workers in the company.
The tycoon product of the industrialization is John Rockefeller, who found his fortune in the oil industry. As the CEO of the Standard Oil Company, Rockefeller was one of the wealthiest men not only in America, but also worldwide. Born and brought up in New York, he established his first oil refinery company, which he later incorporated the Standard Oil Company that proceeded to dominate the American oil industry. The company was worth more than $55 million by the 1880’s. However, the antimonopoly legislation introduced in the same year compelled all monopoly companies in the steel, railway, and oil industries to relinquish their grip on their respective fields. The implementation of these legislations cleared the way for the passage of the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1800. In the following years, Rockefeller started a charity through which he donated over $530 million to numerous courses (Norton et al., 2011). These funds were very crucial in establishing various institutions such as the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research that was later renamed to Rockefeller University as well as the University of Chicago. In addition, his funds were also used to establish the Rockefeller Foundation. These institutions played an important role in educating the American population leading to a more literate society.
Politically, industrialization proved to be very instrumental particularly when it came to legislation laws. It played a key role in nurturing a group of reformers who were instrumental in initiating the formulation of key laws meant to help the poor both at the local and state governments. These laws played an important role in the American society as they introduced tenement housing inspection and provided playgrounds among other improvements in the slums (Hill, 2017). In addition, the government used the revenues collected from industrialization to expand the public education. Most importantly, the government introduced laws that compelled employers to protect their employees against dangers posed by the industrious machinery as well as other hazards such as fire. Theodore Roosevelt, a liberal Republican, and an American president led one of the significant worker’s strikes against employees in 1901. Roosevelt argued the mine owners and the miners to solve their difference via arbitration only for the mine owners to ignore his directive. Consequently, he deployed the army to take over the mines which the miners to reach an agreement with the miners. This strike resulted in better pay as well as working conditions for United Mineworkers in 1902 (Norton et al., 2011).
Industrialization also affected different groups of Americans as well as immigrants both positively and negatively. One of the negativities of this industrialization is that it adversely affected the children through the introduction of underage labor. A substantial number of children both in America and Britain were left with no alternative but to work in order to support their families. Most of them were employed in factories and coal mines and worked for prolonged hours which denied them time to attend school. In addition, these children were subjected to poor working conditions by working long hours without food as well as being beaten at the slightest mistake (Norton et al., 2011).
Another group that saw the nightmares of industrialization is a group of women working at Triangle Shirtwaist Factory’s assembly line (Stein, 2010). A tragic fire at the factory resulted in the death of more than 145 employees. This tragedy could have been avoided had the factory observed all safety procedures as well as safety guidelines such as closing the factory doors to contain the fire. Most of the victims were young teenage immigrant women who had been working in the factories sewing machines for more than 10 hours per day under cramped conditions. The factory had not updated its fire extinguishers and escape plan as all exit doors were closed at the time of the incident leading to the horrible death of 145 women out of the six-hundred workers in the factory at the time.
The other group that also faced the ups and downs of industrialization is the Chinese immigrants who were subjected to horrible working conditions and had their workday and wages shortened. Most of them worked in railroad work that comprised of hard-working conditions as the work required extreme physical labor. This led to an important strike that sought to increase the wages to $40 per month as well as shortening of the working hours. Unfortunately, the management decided to cut off their food ratios and handed them heavy fines as well as threatened to replace them with former slaves.
Black Entrepreneurship as well was negatively affected by the industrialization. A few of black men dared to take the advantage of the increasing market and opened numerous businesses. However, did not augur well with the white men as they felt the black business were a serious threat. In 1892, three black men, Will Stewart, Calvin McDowell, and Tom Moss set up grocery stores in Memphis that ended up doing very well (Norton et al., 2011). Nevertheless, as a result of drawing clients from white-owned business, they ended up facing constant clashed from the white businesses and their supports. In one incidence, Moss and a group of black businessmen guarding their business at night were forced to shoot numerous white vandals. They were arrested following the incidence and with no chance at justice, they ended up being jailed. However, before they could tell their side of the story, they were risked away from their cell by a white mob that killed them by lynching.
There were also a number of serious challenges that Industrialization brought to the working Americans. Firstly, some of them worked for as little as 25 cents per day in sweatshops. Despite working for long hours, they did not receive any significant wage increases. Secondly, there were no child protection legislations meant to prevent child labor. Children as young as seven years old were hired to work under an unbearable working condition in the coal mines. In addition, all workers in the cotton industry were also forced to work long hours under very hot conditions (Norton et al., 2011). The workers also faced the danger of incurring injuries from the uncovered and unprotected industrial machinery resulting in high death rates, particularly in factories. The living conditions, particularly for the low-income earners was also very pathetic as most of them lived in government constructed poorhouses. The healthcare system was as well intolerable for this group as most of them experienced overcrowding, medieval medical care and poor sanitation in the public health facilities. Unequal development left some areas underdeveloped. Areas such as Manchester had muddy roadways and unventilated poor houses. The homes lacked proper sewage systems which led to serious water-borne diseases such as typhoid and influenza.
References
Hill, R. C. (2017). Capital accumulation and urbanization in the United States. Readings in Urban Analysis: Perspectives on Urban Form and Structure , 150.
Norton, M. B., Sheriff, C., Blight, D. W., & Chudacoff, H. (2011). A People and a Nation: A History of the United States, Volume II: Since 1865 . Cengage Learning.
Pinchbeck, I. (2013). Women workers in the Industrial Revolution . Routledge.
Stein, L. (2010). The triangle Fire . Cornell University Press.
