More handpicked essays just for you.
Impact on the industrial revolution
Role of agricultural revolution on industrial revolution
Impact on the industrial revolution
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
America was not the official united states of America until George Washington was unanimously elected as president in 1789. Overtime, the country has improved, starting from a weak government due to the articles of confederation, and transitioning into a strong democratic government. Just as the first government style was not stellar, throughout the earlier times in the history of America, people have struggled to deal with finding suitable jobs with proper conditions and earning money to provide for their families. Work in the 1750s consisted of maintaining the farm, watering the crops, and harvesting the crops for money. It was easier for people to be able to work in vicinities near their homes. Certain crops required extra care and time …show more content…
to harvest causing more pain on farmers. Eventually, products were created to make the process of farming easier and more convenient. The era of Antebellum America is when the idea of industrialization was initiated due to an economic slump as well as an outpour of immigrants coming to America. With the increasing number of citizens, there was not enough land for people to use farming as an actual way to earn money.
Eventually, people were becoming desperate to earn money so ideas of industrialization were considered. Although, appealing more to Northerners so machinery was produced in the revolutionary era, causing the spark of ideas for creating bigger products. America was caught in a transition between an agricultural company to a completely industrial economy during the civil war era. Although, the south was lagging behind, being a predominantly agricultural economy. Therefore, most of the manufacturing products came from Northern areas since factories were located there. At this time, working in factories were desired rather than the manual labor of farming. The spike of the industrial era was during the gilded age and progressive era with the South having also transitioned into an industrial economy. However, it came to the point where factories were nearly touching, overcrowding cities everywhere. People began to realize how terrible the working conditions in the factories were. It is evident that overtime the working conditions of America gradually worsened due to the lack of interest in farming, the desperation to earn money, and the spike of …show more content…
industrialization. At the beginning of the new nation era, Americans were focused on forming a new nation, setting up a new system of government after declaring independence, eventually creating the Articles of Confederation. After fixing any problems regarding government control, financial problems began to arise. However, Hamilton had enforced his idea of increasing taxes and tariffs resulting in worrisome citizens. People began stressing about a means of money, wondering how it would be possible to earn enough money to pay for the necessities. Initially, smaller pieces of land were used to farm for a supply of food, instead people turned family farms into cash crops. By transitioning from a smaller family farm to a large cash crop, people were able to sell the extra crops for money, turning farming into an occupation. Farmers began growing cash crops tobacco, wheat, or corn. Southerners were especially fond of the agricultural economy due to their accessibility to fertile soil as well as the warm weather. Although the work was laborious and painful for people, everybody was still willing to farm due to the fact that they were earning money. As well as that farming allowed for the convenience of having their work in one’s backyard. (Kindell). Throughout the new nation era, people were still content with their jobs as farmers, further proving how overtime working conditions were once ideal. Despite that farmers would often be sore from harvesting, it is not close to the monotonous work that would be experienced in the factories. The era of Antebellum America can mostly be recognized for the rise of differences between slave supporters and abolitionists. At the same time, people were focused on the shift of economy between northerners and southerners. As southerners remained traditional, earning money through farming, northerners progressed. Instead of sticking to farming, northerners tended to gravitate towards ideas of industrialization while farmers in the south experienced a drastic increase in the cotton industry. Although, southerners continued to be close minded towards the idea of industrializing, New England was mainly focused on leaving the agriculture economy. As more immigrants arrived to America, the amount of land decreased for citizens to make a suitable profit. Eventually, the soil became less fertile as people were trying to grow as many crops as possible, desperate to earn a sufficient amount of money. Early industrialization initiated with a textile industry due to Samuel Slater. By learning that people in other countries were earning more money in factories than farming, Slater inspired others in the north to take on factory jobs (Barnhill). However, the transition between the two different economies was unable to occur as rapidly as hoped. The thought of more money was easy for people to wish about resulting in more people for industrialization rather than against. And as problems with farming began to arise, it became harder for people to farm as easily as they could before in the new nation era, making it less appealing overall. People began wanting a change in their life, and industrialization seemed like the best resolution. The civil war and reconstruction era gained its name after the victory from the civil war allowing millions of enslaved african americans to be free. However, the focus turned onto the south where new challenges were faced. During this time Andrew Jackson was president and he passed “black codes” to control the labour and behavior of previous slaves and African Americans in the southern region. During the war, a lot of men went to war as it was seen as an exciting adventure in that time period, leaving a lot of women to search for job opportunities. As the country was still transitioning into an industrial economy, women either maintained the farms or left to find jobs in factories. One of the first factories consisted of the production of cotton and was located in Lowell, Massachusetts. A letter about Susan, a young girl, who began working at a cotton mill in Lowell, explains her daily life to her friend, Mary. Throughout the letter, it is evident that although the hours are long and tiresome, Susan chooses to focus on the positives. Everyday Sarah weaves for long hours, standing without rest, leaving the factory with calluses on the bottom of her feet. When she leaves work, she claims that she would hear the continuous “sound of the mill...in [her] ears” (Susan). Although the country was not fully transitioned from a farming economy, gradually the working conditions worsened. However, citizens were too desperate for money as many people were busy fighting in the war, leaving them no time to think about a way of improvement. Susan demonstrates that even though she left with pain in her body, she did not consider the ideas of trying to find a better workplace because that’s all she could do. As well as Charles Dickens who wrote about a visit he made in the Lowell Mills, praising how the “girls were well dressed” however choosing to leave out the conditions of the work (Dickens 45-46). By the gilded age and progressive era, the farming life was completely abolished. The transition to an industrialization was so grand that old agrarian societies of small producers were completely transformed into an urban society dominated by industrial corporations. Throughout the gilded age and progressive era, the country was focused on elimination problems that resulted from the abrupt increase in industrialization. Dominant companies that controlled factories were mainly targeted for the way they treated their workers. Citizens began to protest, demanding labor movements. Overtime, cities were populated by factories which were nearly on top of each other.
With the increasing amount of factories, nearly every citizen belonged in one, working away hours. Work in the factory was described as long, cramped, and monotonous. Workers were compelled to eat in the company lunchrooms provided with food that could be eaten by animals. As well as the fact that they were forced to live in the company houses, sleeping with complete strangers. Many factories initiated contracts, forcing people to maintain their jobs for at least two years (Bimba 67-70). It is evident that the increase of industrialization created the horrible working conditions. When farming was around, citizens were able to choose their own hours, stopping when the pain became too much. But now that factories were maintaining places of land, citizens were forced to join the more modern way of living, by enduring long hours in factories. Eventually citizens recognized the pain they suffered because of the factories, citizens of “all different classes and groups of people took part in the revolts” (Lawrence 248-249). Essentially, the owners of factories created the terrible environment for the citizens, further proving how industrialization caused the increase of horrible working
conditions. By researching the different eras and the various working conditions in each one, it is evident that ultimately the industrialization caused the horrific work lifestyle. Although, it was necessary for the country to progress, the conditions of the factories could have been controlled a lot earlier than they actually were. As fertile land was becoming more rare, farmers lost their jobs creating a downward spiral into industrialization. When the civil war came about, more women had to seek for jobs, making the factory life a lot easier than harvesting crops. Overtime, as the amount of factories increased drastically, people forgot about the world of farming. When the factories increased, so did the working conditions, essentially proving that the spike of industrialization caused them to worsen.
The population of the North consisted of forward thinking individuals. They realized that a change had to be made from agriculture to industry if they were to prosper and for them to use free labor to accomplish prosperity would be to take a step backwards. This ushered in an small and early Industrial Revolution. Factories and mills that produced finished goods sprung up all over the Northern United States along major waterways. These factories produced fabric, iron, machinery, weapons. Raw materials such as cotton was bought from the South and then sold back to them in the form of clothes. Iron workers made iron railroad ties for the growing railroads across the country. More machinery was being built than ever before. These machines were able to multiply the work that could be accomplished. These industries drew in people from rural areas because they were paying for work. As more people came, they settled around the factori...
Factory workers worked twelve to fifteen hours a day in hazardous condition. There were no protective rules for women and children and no insurances for job-related accidents or industrial illness. The workers were obliged to trade at company store
As technologies like steam developed industrialization was able to make use of the geography of the country. There was plenty of cheap land for farming so "American skilled workers tended to be both scarce and expensive" (Cowan 90) and it was necessary for people to create more efficient ways to work. Inventors created machines and methods that would require fewer people or people with fewer skills to compensate for the reduced labor force. This land rich environment lead to a working class that was for the most part transient. Men worked for a short time to make money to start up farms or businesses of their own. Women worked in factories to earn money to send home before they married and raised families. The American worker did not think of themselves as a permanent fixture in the factories, only as transient participant to earn what they need to move on to the next stages of their lives.
the south. Both north and south economies had many similarities and a several differences. The northern economy was built on a commercial platform of trade-dependent, industrial society. During the 1800s, the north experienced an Industrial Revolution. Many factories sprung up in prominent cities such as New York, leading to an increase unskilled labor. Population sizes grew due to the swell in job opportunities, urbanization, and immigration. There were also, intricate railway systems and numerous waterways that allowed for simple trade and shipping among major cities.
happening in the world, with more and more people just accepting the new social classes and not protesting their unfairness. This source not only helps us understand the living conditions of the time but also the change in society that occurred during the Industrial
The working class faced conditions in the factory that wealthier skill workers did not have deal with. These men were not in a comfortable financial situation at home, and could not find comfort in hazardous working conditions with the dangerous machines they had to operate. Workers were harmed daily and among these injured employees were children (Shi 62). Many of these children were as young as nine years old, and due to financial reasons their families sent them away to work in workshops, mines, and even in factories surrounded by dangerous machinery. Realistically, these children were doomed to working in a factory for their entire lives. They did not attended school and worked to help provide for their families. With no education, they would not be able to find a more prestigious job with higher pay. The waged for factory workers were low, but they were not always guaranteed. The Knights of Labor pushed for a federal law that would force employers to “pay employees weekly, in full, for labor performed during the preceding week” (Shi 62). These people were only working in harmful conditions to survive but were not guaranteed enough money to feed their families. Charity handouts did not necessarily help feed a poor family, but aimed to “... produce most beneficial results to [the] community” (Shi 60). This meant that the wealthy didn’t directly give citizens money, but
Railroads opened new areas as settlement and stimulated the mining and manufacture. At the same time, the telegraph appeared. It brought uniform price of the country. Because of these improvements, many people migrated to west. The market revolution and westward expansion heightened the nation’s sectional divisions. The most dynamic feature of the American economy in the beginning of the nineteenth century was the rise of the Cotton Kingdom. But the increasing demand of cotton lead to larger number of slaves. For white people, westward expansion was a chance to get more freedom, but for black people, it means that they would have less freedom and their families will be broken. In the north, Market Revolution turned it to commercial system. Farmers focus on producing crops and livestocks. In some industries, the factory superseded traditional craft production. Both men and women could earn money by taking jobs from factories. Market Revolution changed the time concept of Americans. In cities, time of work and relax is divided clearly. Early New England textile mills largely relied on female and child labor.
Factory workers of this time had very little freedom. Aside from having to work outrageous hours for 6 days of the week, there was no job security, no solid way to survive day-to-day, and if a family member were to suffer an accident, families had no financial means to carry on. In the early 1900s, there were no labor laws, including the right to organize, an eight-hour day, safety standards, or unemployment/disability pensions. M...
The mid 19th century was an age of growth like no other. The term “Industrial Revolution” refers to the time period where production changed from homemade goods, to those produced by machines and factories. As industrial growth developed and cities grew, the work done by men and women diverged from the old agricultural life. People tended to leave home to work in the new factories being built. They worked in dangerous conditions, were paid low wages, and lacked job security (Kellogg). It is difficult to argue, however, that the economic development of the United States was not greatly dependent on the industrial revolution.
American had an economy based on manual labour which was replaced by one dominated by industry and the manufacture of machinery. It began with the expansion of the textile industries and the development of iron-making techniques, and trade expansion was enabled by the introduction of canals, improved roads and railways.
With the economic system, the south had a very hard time producing their main source “cotton and tobacco”. “Cotton became commercially significant in the 1790’s after the invention of a new cotton gin by Eli Whitney. (PG 314)” Let alone, if they had a hard time producing goods, the gains would be extremely unprofitable. While in the North, “In 1837, John Deere patented a strong, smooth steel plow that sliced through prairie soil so cleanly that farmers called it the “singing plow.” (PG 281).” Deere’s company became the leading source to saving time and energy for farming as it breaks much more ground to plant more crops. As well as mechanical reapers, which then could harvest twelve acres a day can double the corn and wheat. The North was becoming more advanced by the second. Many moved in the cities where they would work in factories, which contributed to the nation’s economic growth because factory workers actually produced twice as much of labor as agricultural workers. Steam engines would be a source of energy and while coal was cutting prices in half actually created more factories, railroads for transportation, and ships which also gave a rise in agricultural productivity.
America was a time of rapid growth for people all across the country. The Industrial Revolution began a few years after the Civil War with the invention of steam powered machines. From there, America faced a time of massive expansion and modern industrialized cities popped up across the United States. While there was much success across the nation, such as manual labor becoming easier and a huge population growth, the negative effects of industrialization outweigh the positives. A few of the issues that made industrialization an atrocious time for many was the racism and segregation towards immigrants and unsafe and unfair working conditions/the deprivation of a regular childhood for kids across the nation.
After the Civil War, American businesses and industries grew rapidly. After the war as industries expanded, millions of Americans left their farms to work in mines and factories. Smaller workshops were soon replaced by factors that contained complex machinery as a substitute for simpler hand tools. America was the world’s leading industrial nation in the late 1800s. By 1914, the nation’s gross national product was eight times greater than it had been after the Civil War came to an end.
The end of the Civil War in 1865 made way for an era of major transformation in American society. The major transformation was known as the Industrial Revolution, an era in which American citizens embraced industrialization and innovation in order to improve life. During the Industrial Revolution the economy expanded and
Working shifts were beyond the control of the workers and the job was not necessarily stable because workers could be fired at any time for any reason (OI: “Working Conditions”). Moreover, the working environment was cramped and caused many problems to arise, such as the death of workers. The working class suffered greatly from the consequences of the Industrial Revolution. However, they also experienced many improvements in life, such as the decrease in prices of goods. The price of goods was able to decrease because of the increase in production.