During the years of 1870-1916 the U.S. went through an industrial boom that manifested the country we live in today. At the time, the nation was rebuilding it’s connections back up once again making the south and the north together as one union. In between all of the changes happening nationally, there were major developments in booming cities like inventions including new forms of industrial idealization, transportation, and the uprising of electricity and along with these inventions came users who would take advantage.
As for transportation, one of the major effects of industrialization in the U.S. was the creation of the steamboat. This invention created a more efficient and reliable way of transporting goods along the Erie Canal which greatly benefited the economy and helped found New York City as one of the great trading centers. To increase trade even more, the United States enforced railroads across the nation giving the building blocks for the transcontinental railroad built in 1869. However with all of the booming industry strengthening the economy it also hurt it.
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Rockefeller took advantage of the well oiled railroad system and created what is known as a monopoly. As seen in Document 7, George Rice tells a short tale of how Rockefeller drove him to a breaking point as Rockefeller owned most of the oil companies and also had the lowest prices that George himself and many other competitors couldn’t compete with. As Rockefeller became one of the wealthiest men in America, he used others downfalls to raise himself to the top. Many other people including members of congress even full under the shadow of gaining personal earnings based on controlling the railroads. As seen in Document 3, there were heavier hands at play in the congress and as shown there were many who participated. However, through all this corruption within the system and the economy it didn’t stop the speed of how fast industrialization was molding
Following the Civil War, the United States was made up of plentiful farms and few cities. In comparison to European countries, such as England, industrialization within the US was significantly slow, and the influx of Western settlers as well as the lack of available labor predicted the country would always stay rural. However, for the subsequent forty years, production and industrialization would surge, the labor force and population would increase, and the US would soon be known as the greatest industrial nation in the world. America’s huge industrial growth from 1860 to 1900 was a result of the Republican Party’s platform and the rise of efficient machinery.
Around 35 years after the civil war had ended, the South was still left producing a smaller percentage of the nation’s manufactured goods than it had before the war. However, in the 1880s, their economy was boosted when James Buchanan Duke developed an immense cigarette industry in the form of the American Tobacco Company and made several donations to Trinity College, which is currently known as Duke University. Henry W. Grady, editor of the Atlanta Constitution, was one of the men who supported and pushed for the industrialization of the South.
In the Northeast innovations such as: textile machines broke out as a result of Samuel Slater’s English plans, the cotton gin and concept of interchangeable parts both created by Eli Whitney, as well as the sewing machine created by Elias Howe then perfected by Isaac Singer all stimulated other innovations making industrialization and manufacturing much simpler. Innovations to make tasks easier were also present in the West including one of the most important, the McCormick reaper which increased the amount of food produced in both the domestic and foreign markets. Although all of these smaller innovations were important to developing the economy, it was the transportation that really set America apart. For example, the Northeast’s economy was greatly furthered by the Erie Canal which linked the Hudson River with the Great Lakes. This effected the value of land along the route as well as industry within the state increased dramatically.
The industrialization first happened in Europe and to the west in the states. The rest of the world watched the shift of manufactured out puts change “by 1900, India account(ed) for barely 2 percent of world manufacturing output, China about 7 percent, while Europe alone claims 60 percent of the world's total (GDP)” (Marks 2342). The rest of world due to this industrialization would either have to adapt industrialization to compete or experience the torture’s that would come from being
The Creation of the Erie Canal made New York City the prime port for trading with the Old Northwest. This caused other states to try and compete with New York in order to become successful trading centers by building their own
The men that built America have played an immense role in how we live today. One distinct example would be John D. Rockefeller. As a kid, he was always intrigued in how objects worked, which led him to becoming a very successful tycoon. Even though he was a very rich and a great industrialist, how he got there was unacceptable. There are two categories when coming to define a businessman: robber baron and captain of industry.
The railroad completely changed the way trade worked. Before the railroad people had to deliver goods by wagon, and that would cause a lot of problems because of the rough terrain and long delivery times, but with the railroad it made things 100 times easier for the single conductor, and the buyers who would get their product much faster than before. Railroads not only helped the economy, but it helped people as well, unlike most things that happened in the U.S. economy, there was little to nothing negative about the creation of railroads which was ideal because it is still being used today. Preceding the railroads there were steamboats, the steamboats were a big hassle because of the dangers, such as indian attacks or boiler explosions, but the Framers were not going to back down until they found the perfect way of trade, hence the railroad. Another way America increased trade was when the cotton gin was created.
Industrialization was a catalyst of tension between laborers and the owners of capital which then led to political reform, as well as thousands of immigrants coming to America looking for work. Industrialization was a cause of tension between laborers and the owners of capital. The Gilded Age was a time with large and rapid economic growth, and additionally helped capitalism strengthen in America. Industrialization and innovation sparked more, unregulated manufacturing where the capital owners’ net worth boomed.
The Industrial Revolution, which took place from the 18th to 19th centuries, changed the way countries in Europe functioned. Before this it was a period predominantly agrarian. The industrial revolution led rural societies in Europe to become industrial and urban. Preceding the Industrial Revolution, manufacturing was often done in people’s homes, using hand tools or basic machinery. Industrialization let to a shift to powered machines and advanced tools, factorization.
In the late 1800’s to the 1920’s the United States made a positive impact by improving the country by creating jobs and better products to live easier. Industrialization had a positive impact on the United States society because without it today we wouldn't have the things we use each day to have an interesting life. The Industrial Revolution created jobs for many American citizens. Over the next couple years the United States grew its population by offering this opportunity to all kinds of immigrants that came here to the United States with their families. For example one reason why the Industrial Revolution had a positive impact on the U.S society was steel (entry 3).
The Industrial Revolution, lasting from the late 1700s until the early 1900s, was possibly one of the greatest time periods in this world’s history. This time period caused people to think more and dream bigger. From these big dreams rose up inventors, entrepreneurs, and business owners. The Industrial Revolution brought many new inventions and production processes, but along with great new things come great terrible horrors. While some might argue that Industrialization had primarily positive consequences for society because of the new production methods and what they produced, it was actually a negative thing for society.
The Erie Canal was the start of great economic growth in America, but specifically New York. As Document 1A states, “By 1825, the Erie Canal gave another boost to New York’s already busy seaports.”(Doc 1.) This lets us know that although the seaports in New York were fairly busy, the Erie Canal made it one of the leading seaports in America. The Canal not only boosted the seaports, but it had a lot more success than dirt roads used. Using the canal, you can get to where you need to be within 8 days, rather than 21 days in a wagon.
As American factories and farms started to produce more goods businessmen and legislators began to create a faster and cheaper way to get goods distributed to consumers. Around 1820, Americans began to build canals and steamboats, railroad, and extend roads linking the Atlantic Coast with new states in the Trans Appalachian west. Canals and Steamboats shrunk the distance of carrying goods from one place to another and could haul the most cargo for transportation. A well-known waterway called the Erie Canal connected the Great Lakes region to the Atlantic Ocean and cost 7 million dollars.
The first way that the economy was impacted was that with the ease and efficiency of the railroads, they created a large demand for goods and labor because they needed a lot of people to help build the railroads and also needed a large quantity of steel for the rails and wood for the railroad ties. Secondly the railroads created a huge national market because of the simplicity of delivering goods from place to place. The railroads helped the people in even the most rural place prosper with the cost efficient transportation of the trains. From 1830 to 1861, the United States laid aproximately 30,000 miles of railroad track, which led to an increase in demand for coal which was used to produce iron for the
The building of roads, canals and railroads played a large role in the United States during the 1800s. They served the purpose of connecting towns and settlements so that goods could be transported quickly and more efficiently. These goods could be transported fast, cheap and in safe way through the Erie Canal that was built to connect the Great Lakes to New York. Railroads were important during Civil War as well, because it helped in the transportation of goods, supplies and weapons when necessary. These new forms of transportation shaped the United States into the place that it is today.