The Foundry, defined by Joel Garreau in his book called The Nine Nations of North America, is an area compiled of cities in the Northeast Corridor such as New York City and Philadelphia to the cities near The Great Lakes. The Foundry is located in the Northeastern section of the Continental U.S. With cities such as NYC, Philadelphia, Chicago, and others, The Foundry is by far the most populous area in the United States. The common characteristic that ties most of the cities in The Foundry to each other is industrialization, thus the Northeast also being dubbed the “Rust Belt” (Rust Belt). Even though it is the Industrial heart of the U.S., The Foundry is not limited to coal and manufacturing, but stretches out to agriculture as well. That being said, to truly get an understanding about The Foundry, one would have to go back to the Age of Industrialization to appreciate the string that ties these cities together. But even with such a big part of history tying The Foundry together, every city and area in it, whether small or big, has its own unique taste and culture that differentiates one from the other. From their physical geographies to their cultures, each make up what the United States is, a land of diversity. From Detroit, Michigan’s Motown Blues and Chicago’s Great Lakes to New York City’s Broadway, Ivy League schools, and Niagara Falls, The Foundry is made up of a variety of people, land, and cultures.
Physical Geography
Two Eco-regions divide The Foundry; most of it is composed of the Eastern Temperate Forest, whereas a smaller area is part of the Northern Forests. The Northern Forests, which contains a smaller portion of The Foundry, consists of the Upper Peninsula and half of the Lower Peninsula of Michigan and also ...
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...l Regions of North America: Toward a Common Perspective). One of the largest organic food companies in America, Eden Food Company, is also located in The Foundry (Hintz).
The Foundry is hard to describe in one world. Some people, even me, would say that the main characteristic that ties The Foundry together is industrialization, but there is definitely more to that. If industrialization were the only thing to be spoken about, then there would be no room to talk about the business aspect or the Northeast Corridor, or the agriculture in the Appalachian Plateau. If Industrialization and the Great Lakes were the only things that we focused on, then we would miss the forests and mountains that take part in the landscape of The Foundry. There is diversity in people, land, and culture throughout The Foundry and it will forever be difficult to characterize it in one word.
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...
Moody, John. The Railroad Builders: A Chronicle of the Welding of the States. New Haven, CT: Yale UP;, 1921. Print.
Geographically the United States is a vary diverse landscape that effected America's ability to industrialize. The geographic features of a country will control the need for it to industrialize, less land means less opportunity to farm. This geographic fact will also control the rate of development; less land means a need for faster industrialization. It is this diversity and abundance of land that controlled the economic and social development of America's Industrial Revolution.
During the 1800’s, America was going through a time of invention and discovery known as the Industrial Revolution. America was in its first century of being an independent nation and was beginning to make the transition from a “home producing” nation to a technological one. The biggest contribution to this major technological advancement was the establishment of the Transcontinental Railroad because it provided a faster way to transport goods, which ultimately boosted the economy and catapulted America to the Super Power it is today.
During the American Revolution and the civil war, the North and the South experienced development of different socio-political and cultural environmental conditions. The North became an industrial and manufacturing powerhouse as a result of rise of movements like abolitionism and women’s right while the South became a cotton kingdom whose labor was sourced from slavery (Spark notes, 2011).
Throughout the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century, the United States economy changed dramatically as the country transformed from a rural agricultural nation to an urban industrial gian, becoming the leading manufacturing country in the world. The vast expansion of the railroads in the late 1800s’ changed the early American economy by tying the country together into one national market. The railroads provided tremendous economic growth because it provided a massive market for transporting goods such as steel, lumber, and oil. Although the first railroads were extremely successful, the attempt to finance new railroads originally failed. Perhaps the greatest physical feat late 19th century America was the creation of the transcontinental railroad. The Central Pacific Company, starting in San Francisco, and the new competitor, Union Pacific, starting in Omaha. The two companies slaved away crossing mountains, digging tunnels, and laying track the entire way. Both railroads met at Promontory, Utah on May 10, 1869, and drove one last golden spike into the completed railway. Of course the expansion of railroads wasn’t the only change being made. Another change in the economy was immigration.
The North and South were forming completely different economies, and therefore completely different geographies, from one another during the period of the Industrial Revolution and right before the Civil War. The North’s economy was based mainly upon industrialization from the formation of the American System, which was producing large quantities of goods in factories. The North was becoming much more urbanized due to factories being located in cities, near the major railroad systems for transportation of the goods, along with the movement of large groups of factory workers to the cities to be closer to their jobs. With the North’s increased rate of job opportunities, many different people of different ethnic groups and classes ended up working together. This ignited the demise of the North’s social order. The South was not as rapidly urbanizing as the North, and therefore social order was still in existence; the South’s economy was based upon the production of cotton after Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin. Large cotton plantations’ production made up the bulk of America’s...
Stanley, George E. "The Rise Of Manufacturing." The Era of Reconstruction and Expansion (1865-1900. N.p.: World Almanac Library, 2005. 20-21. Google Books. World Almanac Library. Web. 29 Sept. 2013.
There is no refuting that the railroad companies transformed business operations and encouraged industrial expansion. The raw materials required for construction of the transcontinental railroad directly resulted in the expansion of the steel, lumber and stone industries. (Gillon p.652) The railroad stimulated growth in manufacturing and agriculture providing an efficient manner to ship raw materials and products throughout the country. Which in turn, increased consumerism and introduced t...
Becoming prominent 18th century, the Industrial Revolution was particularly confined to Britain, bringing profitable opportunities to the middle and lower class. Eventually, the Industrial Revolution spread to other countries, affecting each person differently. Adolph von Menzel, was a German painter, illustrator, printmaker, and teacher. He was the most important artist working in Berlin in the second half of the 19th century, causing him to have great influence throughout Germany. He also became one of German’s greatest proponents of realism, through his portraits, industrial artistic scenes, and his more intimate studies of interiors and local religious events. Menzel belonged to the school of German realism, but did not receive any
In the years leading up to the industrial era, manual labor was required across the country in order to produce goods such as wheat, steel, or other raw materials. In order to create these, skilled workers were needed so they could produce the materials. While the materials that the skilled workers made were of a high quality, there was a drawback; in order to make such high quality materials, companies needed to pay these workers more than the average worker. In response to this, companies set out to find a way to make more product for cheaper. A prime example of how they did this is when they created the Bessemer process. This is a machine/process that converts iron into steel via injection of air into the raw iron. The process is credited with launching the steel industry and cheapening the cost of production because it was no longer necessary to employ high skilled workers (Document B). With this, the need for highly paid skilled workers was no longer necessary because steel companies could employ low skill workers and pr...
Raw materials, new techniques in the workplace, a massive increase in the labor force, and numerous technological inventions all played integral parts in the United State’s economic and industrial boom. Large quantities of coal, iron ore, silver, and gold were discovered in various regions in the West. Lead, quartz, zinc, copper, and other precious metals were also found as new areas were uncovered. Around the mines and quarries gathered the workers of the sites along with their families. These people created towns known as “boomtowns”, which required transportation in the form of trains for their supplies. The same process happened with numerous other raw materials found in the country as well (Brinkley, 449).
To begin, Motor City wouldn’t be Motor City if it weren’t for Henry Ford and other automotive innovators. Bentley Historical Library (University of Michigan) researched the roots of the Automotive Industries. The article shows sufficient information regarding Ford and GMs ideas of mass production. They brought new ideas, new methods, and new fabrication to the city. Thousands migrated to the inner city for the numerous automotive manufacturing jobs being offered. Ford had presented “Five Dollars a Day Jobs.” He was offering eager workers top dollar for their work input. The news of Ford’s proposal spread like a wildfire through the American population, by means of newspaper, and constant chatter. African Americans retreated to the North to leave the suppressing, segregated South. Poles, Germans, and other European groups also rushed to Detroit to grab their share of work. Henry Ford required an immense working force to run his industrial empire. In essence, they all migrated to Detroit seeking economic opportunity and a stable living. From here, manufacturing and growth could only get enriched.
...ural industry (Marks, 2002). It must be noted that this part of American heritage had a great deal to do with secularism. This is because of the fact that it represented equal opportunity for all to participate. This is in spite of the fact that marginalization of different kinds did develop in American society (Kagan et al, 2000). One particular one that did arise was through the economic inequalities. This was a serious one, as many individuals suffered tremendously during the rise of the industrialized America. In addition to this, there was the gender inequality that was also a significant depravity, especially because of the rise of industrial America, as women were treated as a secondary/reserve source of labor. Having understood that industrialism had such an immense impact on America, it may rightfully be asserted that it is the most relevant historical force.
In the early part of this century was a time when industry was booming with growth around the installation of major railroads. With this growth came the transatlantic cable, the telegraph, and a whole lot of steel. Steel would be needed in the construction of these new transportation systems and communications were now possible between businesses and industries. (Wren, 2005)