American Problems and Innovations during The Industrial Revolution

The industrial cities that spawned during and after the birth of the Industrial Revolution were very different from the cities that existed before to the revolution. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, cities were a market where trade goods could be bought and sold. Trappers and hunters would come into towns to sell their goods to shoppers who were eager to obtain these items. Blacksmiths and barbershops, saloons and banks, farmers and stable masters were typically the primary typical businesspersons within a typical pre-industrial revolution city. The traditional American city went through many drastic changes in a short period of time during the Industrial Revolution, and would never be the same. Some may claim that American cities during the Industrial Revolution were suffering due to the sudden growth that they were experiencing. Although American cities were in fact riddled with problems during the Industrial Revolution, the innovations to solve these problems would change the shape of America forever, for the better.

Both many successes and problems arose within these new industrial cities. One of these problems was that of the transportation issue. To some, the densely populated cities were difficult to navigate. Often having populations in the hundreds of thousands, these cities were only a few square miles in size. One of the first inventions created to tackle this problem was the omnibus. The omnibus was similar to a horse drawn carriage, except that it was much longer. "Putting the car on iron tracks then enabled the horses to pull more passengers at a faster clip through crowded city streets" (Henretta, 2009). An improvement over the omnibus came later in the form of the electric trolley. The trolley was a carriage th...

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...ulb. Due to the demand for the electric light bulb, electric supply lines came to quickly satisfy this demand. "Before it had any significant effect on industry, electricity gave the city its quickening tempo, lifting elevators, powering streetcars and subway trains, turning night into day: (Henretta, 2009).

There were many problems in American cities during the Industrial Revolution. Thanks to American innovation, most, if not all of these major problems were addressed. The American Industrial Revolution was not a dark time in America's history, after all Thomas Edison turned night into day.

Works Cited

Beavan, C. (2013, July 20). America: The story of us - e07 - cities. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Lw9Px59gsY

Henretta, J. A. and Brody, D. (2010). America: A Concise History, Volume 2: Since 1877. 4th ed., Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martin’s.