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Impacts of the industrial revolution in america
Impacts of the industrial revolution in america
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Module 2 Discussion
During the Gilded Age, industrial capitalism (known as the 2nd industrial revolution) became the driving force to transforming the economies in Europe and in the United States. Industrial capitalism was also the foundation for creating a global economy. Many of the business practices and profits derived from commercial capitalism and industrial capitalism. These profits came from machinery, technology, large factories and processing plants. Even though progress and profits came with the Gilded Age, it also brought tensions, conflicts and misery. It also sparked an unbalance social and economic order for workers’ wages and working conditions. This period in history brought heavy masses of immigration to the country. In addition, continuous struggles and ongoing between labor, capital and increased growth in urbanization. Today, we see these similarities and
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challenges facing our nation. Especially, when it comes to business practices from big corporations and the anxiety of opportunity for success in a competitive economy. We see this considerably now and even more in the 21st century on a much broader scale, when corporations competing in a global economy. Successful businessmen such as; Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller and Cornelius Vanderbilt were owners of large scale corporations determined to being and staying competitive. Big steel, oil and railroads helped shape the U.S. economy in becoming a competitive industrial nation. Today, successful businessmen such as: Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Larry Ellison (Oracle) are similar to the elite business men during the Gilded Age. Advancements is technology innovations, marketing, business strategies and tactics are used today as they were back in the day. This fierce competition describes how the new industrial order was and how those same methods / techniques are in the 21st century. Today, in the 21st century we still use and profit from machinery, technology, large factories and processing plants. For example, Apple is a technology firm constantly advancing in new technology and ideas from its business practices. To me, Apple reminds me of what Andrew Carnegie’s “big steel” corporation used to be. As you can see, these are some of the business practices that became profitable and shaped the Gilded Age era. The images of women during the Gilded Age seem to be older Caucasian American female beauty.
To me, they are portrayed as classy, wearing long dresses, shirts with long sleeves, hats with ribbons, stylish, attractive, slender and fashionable. These women were the foundation of what the style of fashion and beauty was then and sets the basis for style of the modern fashion women of today. The similar business practices and ideas to basic concepts of women’s fashion was important during the Gilded Age as they are today. However, the images of men shows the “Arrow Collar” man looking upper class, confident, classy, and elegant, having a bow tie with handkerchief and educated. He resembles as either a lawyer or businessman being successful. What these images and pictures showing of how people dressed during the Gilded Age, these are similar concepts and business practices to the ways businesses market and advertise their products in the 21st century. It seems to me that business practices in clothing, fashion and style have always been an important factor still to this
day.
After the Civil War, business and corporations have expanded significantly throughout the United States. During this time period, known as the Gilded Age, many aspects of the United States were influenced by these large corporations. The Gilded Age was given that name after Mark Twain referenced it in one of his works. In the post Civil War period, big businesses governed by corrupt acts and held power of both the political system and the economy.
In the late nineteenth century known as the Gilded Age (or the Reconstruction period) and the early twentieth century known as the Progressive era, the nation went through great economic growth and social change. Beginning from the 1870s, there was rapid growth in innovations and big businesses. This could be because there was population growth and when there is population growth, there is a high demand of products and other necessities in order to strive in society. Many immigrants from Europe, mostly from the eastern and southern Europe, and Asia moved to American cities. Additionally, farmers from rural America desired to increase economically in society and since corporations ruled and political problems occurred, they decided to move into the cities. Afterwards, the 1900s started with the dominance of progressivism which many Americans tried to improve and solve the problems that were caused or had arisen because of the industrialization of the Gilded Age. It was basically the time when progressives fought for legislations like regulation of big businesses, end of the political corruption, and protection of the rights of the people: the poor, immigrants, workers, and consumers. Thus, between the periods 1870 to 1920, big businesses had arisen and taken control of the political and economic systems through corruption and innovations. In response, American citizens reacted negatively and formed labor unions and political systems to diminish the power that large corporations had in America.
In history, it seems inarguably true that when a nation advanced in power and wealth, changes will soon followed. These changes affected the political, economic and social system of that nation, and often came as an advantage for wealthy individuals, while detrimental to others less fortunate. An example of this notion can be seen in American History. After the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era, America quickly surpassed Great Britain in industrial production thus became the leading nation in industrialization. However, great things do not come without a cost; the rapid technological expansion in the US would initiate the crisis of the 1890s. The crisis of the 1890s was the shift from the rural and agrarian society to a modern urban and industrial society.
The exact period of time in which the Gilded Age occurred is ever-debatable, but most historians can at least agree that it started within the 20 years after the Civil War ended and lasted until the early 1920s. (West) The Gilded Age itself was characterized by the beginnings of corporations and corrupt political machines. Policies such as the General Incorporation Laws allowed business to grow larger more easily, and with less red tape involved. New technology allowed faster and more efficient production, but this explosive growth of industry called for not only more resources, but new business practices and leaders as well. (Moritz 10-12)
The life of an immigrant in the United States during the Gilded Age was a rough life. During this time period the U.S. went through a dramatic change in dealing with changing infrastructure and masses of people coming over from different countries for a chance at a better life. This time period was characterized by small wage jobs, poor working conditions and the struggle to survive. The Jungle embodies the themes of the Gilded Age with first hand experiences of an immigrant's hardships of life.
Often historical events leading up to the twentieth century are dominated by men and the role of women is seemingly non-existent outside of reproduction. When one thinks of notable and memorable names and events of the Revolution, men are the first to be mentioned. The American Revolution was mainly dominated by men including George Washington, Samuel Adams, and Benjamin Franklin. There is no denying that men were vitally important to the American Revolution, but what were the women doing? Often overlooked, the women of the Revolution played a key role in the outcome of the nation. The women of the American Revolution, although not always recognized, were an influential society that assumed risky jobs like soldiers, as well as involvement
The Incorporation of America sets a high standard for itself, one in which it doesn’t necessarily meet; however, the work is still expansive and masterful at describing the arguments of the Gilded Age.... ... middle of paper ... ... “Machines employed in production under the present system are “absolutely injurious,” rendering the workman more dependent; depriving him of his skill and of opportunities to acquire it; lessening his control over his own condition and the hope of improving it; cramping his mind, and in many cases distorting and enervating his body.”
In the late 1700’s and early 1800’s, big business began to boom. For the first time, companies were developing large factories to manufacture their goods. Due to the new mechanics and cheap labor, factory owners can now produce their goods at a cheaper rate. As big businesses brought wealth and capitalism, it also widened the gap between the wealthy elite and the poor. One class in particular was horribly affected by the growth of big factories.
After the Civil War and the Reconstruction era, rapid industrialization occured in the United States. This rapid industrialization, often referred to as the Gilded Age, was due to the discovery of extensive amounts of natural resources (coal, iron ore, copper, lead, timber, oil), a growing population of American families and immigrants, an abundant labor supply, an advanced transportation network, and the development of new technology, which all had a huge effect on American society. The Gilded Age led to the rise of industrial capitalism, and was characterized by corruption. Between 1865 and 1898, rapid industrialization shaped the political, social, and economic development of the US to a great extent. It profoundly impacted and reshaped
The United States’s industrialization lead to a great boom in both economic and population growth, allowing businesses to flourish. With more money and workers at their disposal, employers often would often mistreat workers, suddenly cutting their wages or firing them. With only profit in mind, industries eventually became monopolized and the conditions of workers only worsened. Defenseless and barely able to survive, laborers soon found power in uniting with each other, leading to the establishment of American labor unions during the Gilded Age. They provided workers with necessary protection from their employers’ capricious decisions, and while their presence elicited fear in business owners, unions eventually bettered the standard of living for the American proletarian through compromise.
The Gilded Age was a time of transition for the citizens of the United States. They experienced great changes not only in economic status but also social change. This age witnessed the growth of many industries, unions, technology and the rise of many big businesses. However, there were some factors caused a great divide amongst Americans. Some of these factors include: the upper class reaping all the benefits that would not be possible without lower class workers, lower class workers demanding better conditions as they were usually underpaid and worked long hours, another factor was also the image of what the Gilded Age was to immigrants versus what the reality of it was. This is shown by John Mitchell in “The Workingman’s Conception of Industrial
“Women’s roles were constantly changing and have not stopped still to this day.” In the early 1900s many people expected women to be stay at home moms and let the husbands support them. But this all changes in the 1920s, women got the right to vote and began working from the result of work they have done in the war. Altogether in the 1920s women's roles have changed drastically.
In the "Gilded Age" immigrants from all over the world became part of America's working nation in hopes of finding a new and better life for themselves and their families. As more and more new families moved to America with high hopes, more and more people fell victims to the organized society, politics, and institutions better described as, the system. The system was like a jungle, implying that only the strong survived and the weak perished. Bosses always picked the biggest and strongest from a throng of people desperate for work, and if you were big and strong, you were more likely to get the job then if you were small and weak. Packing town was also a Jungle in the sense that the people with more authority or political power acted as predators and preyed on the working people, taking their money unfairly because of the their lack of knowledge on the pitfalls of the New World and their inability to speak and understand the universal language adequately. The unjust and corrupt system kept workers from speaking out when they felt they had been wronged and punished them when they did. As a result of the system, men women and even children were overworked, underpaid and taken advantage of. Working immigrants weren't any better off in American then they were in their homeland, as they soon discovered. Dreams that any people had of America were washed away by the corrupt ways of the system.
The Industrial Revolution “transformed the daily lives of Americans as much as—and arguably more than—any single event in U.S. history”. It was marked by significant advances in technology and industry that had broad and enduring impacts. Even though the start of the industrial revolution is said to have begun in the first half of the 19th century, the real industrialization of America did not begin until after the Civil War. The American economy accelerated its growth after the Civil War as it entered “The Second Industrial Revolution,” generally recognized as the period between 1870 and 1914. This secondary movement created long lasting effects in many areas for America. The most significant consequences of the industrialization of America
The changes accompany the transition from one epoch to another. In the late nineteenth century labor has become a commodity to the merchants, and the formation of a new mode of production has risen which gave rise to a capitalist society. There is a new class distinction between the laborer and those who owned the means of production.