Industrial Revolution Dbq

In 1787 when delegates came together to work on a new Constitution for the United States of America, “the new nation was struggling to build a sovereign central state that respected regional autonomy and the competing rights claims of different individuals and groups, issues that had undermined the nations first operating system, the Confederation”(p.173). Little did we know that the eighteenth century was about to be a major turning point for the United States. This time in history is known as the Industrial Revolution. Before countries started becoming industrialized, anything humans needed to do required troublesome manual labor. Luckily, with this revolution, came new technologies and a change in the relationship between the people and their society.
Ironically, inventor and entrepreneur John Fitch met these delegates with a boat called Perseverance. I say that this is ironic because the webster definition of perseverance is, “steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty or delay in achieving

success”(dictionary). To me, our nation would not have become industrialized if we did not have the perseverance to make changes. This boat was the first boat that had a steam engine which ran the paddles. Even though this boat was not the fastest, it proved that there were more efficient ways to be doing dates, things that were unheard of. Events like this help us classify what they key aspects are of this new way of life.
Although these dates, inventions and inventors seem to be the first thing that come to mind when we think of the industrial revolution, there is much more to it.

Industrialization “enabled human societies to break free from “the Biological Old Regime””.(pg 176) Societies figured out how to use the earths resources. With the earth comes many different potential energy resources which allowed “greater labor specialization, the growth of cities, and the accumulation of surplus”(pg 176). This minimized the amount of labor that was put into just about anything. Without these fossil fuels, transportation systems such as cars, trains and airplanes would have to be working solely on the winds and currents, which is nearly impossible for that to workout at all times. These new ways of transportation permitted people to move from place to place in a much easier, faster way. These resources made humans realize they did not have power over their natural

environment.
Speaking of altering ways of transportation, the industrial revolution also altered the way of life for workers. The embodiment of industrialization and urbanization changed the basic ways of work life. There are three major ways in which their lives had changed. One being that factory workers did not produce goods the way artisans did. Each employee worked at a machine and they were paid by how long they worked, or how much they contributed to a product. Second being clearer boundaries emerged for most people placing between home and workplace. “Going to work” because a common phrase, replacing “the integrated home and workplace that defined most preindustrial economies.” Lastly, factories crossed the gender and age employment line. Women and children sometimes worked in factories because they were more fit for the tasks. Even though they were more suitable for the tasks, they were still paid lower wages than men.