Industrialization after the Civil War Final Paper
Strayer University
This paper was prepared for HIS 105 Contemporary U.S. History
Taught by: Dr. James Allen
Introduction
This paper will discuss some aspects, affected groups and effects of the industrialization of the US after its civil war. Particular attention would be on the change from a primarily agrarian economy to an industrialized one in what was called the Gilded Age or the Second Industrial Revolution.
Growth of Transportation and Manufacturing
After the Reconstruction revived the economy and society of the South to bearable levels, the nation shifted its energies to expanding the industrial base of the North to the rest of the country. The railroad industry paved the way by laying down a land transportation network that will be used to transport the goods that sprouting factories will turn-out. Technologies developed which drove the production of steel and coal that powered the building of the railroads. By 1900, a total of 193,000 miles of track had been laid-out and still is the largest amount built in history (Zinn, 2005).
The newfound capability to distribute products by land spurred the growth of manufacturing and technological inventions. Factories rose that produced clothes, shoes, machines, furniture, food, etc. In the process, large corporations were formed which upended craftsmen and small businesses. Most people chose to simply work for these corporations which became the precursor later on of the management and work force of industrialized nations.
Urbanization
The process of urbanization features the mass movement of people from the rural areas to the cities driven by the depressed state of the Southern economy and news of abundant jobs in the factories. This phenomenon instantly touched the sphere of politics which is also directly linked with population numbers. In this period, 11 million Americans moved from the country sides into the cities; another 25 million arrived from Europe as foreign immigrants (Sage, n.d.). With the massive influx of manpower, voting power in politics also came in. The labor force and the enlarged citizenry became the 4th power bloc in urban eco-system, joining big business, politicians and the government. Though feeling exploited, the masses realized that their numbers translated into political power through the vote. Elections became the means by which people in the cities can act make society change to the better for them. The expanded electorate moderated the increasing power of politicians and big businessmen who created the “political machine” to deal with the voting citizenry.
Wealth Creation and Distribution
Industrialization created wealth for the nation as a whole but unfortunately, it also resulted in a large gap between the rich and the poor. Government was not able to foresee this consequence until labor and social unrest became apparent. The economy was being reorganized by the consolidation wherein big businesses are acquiring smaller businesses and the large corporations were born. By the 1890’s, two thirds of those who earn livelihood get them from wages rather than owning their own business. Most of these are the migrants from the South to the Northern cities, the immigrants from Europe and sadly, women and children. The pursuit of “supernormal profits” (More, 2000) by the owners of corporations was realized by keeping the wages of workers pitifully low; There was a small middle class made up of small business owners and the managers of these corporations. At the top was the upper class made up of the extremely wealthy owners and top managers of the corporations. This inequitable distribution adverse to the working class would persist until legislation like labor and anti-trust laws would catch-up. (More, 2000)
African-American Migration
The slavery in the South took a milder form in the discrimination in the North. In the post-war era, they got better livelihood and respect and less oppression but it was not totally eradicated. The migration of African-Americans took two stages; the first was the migration to the “non-metropolitan” towns where there were sizable African-American communities that can provide some protection from violent racist acts against them. It took more than 4 decades before about a million of them finally moved to the cities en masse in the Great Migration of the 1910’s where half a million blacks left the South (Foner, 2014).
There was an opportunity in the labor shortage after World War I and America’s industrialization was still going strong. By 1920, about 900,000 African-Americans were in the urban work force. Many of these migrants also joined the armed forces as their predecessors did joining the Union forces in the Civil War. By the end of World War I, about 350,000 African-Americans had served and gained pride for their race.
Exploitation of Women
There were jobs offered to women in the second industrialization and these were taken just to survive in the cities despite the pitiful wages. They made up 15% of the labor force but profiteering created miserable and unsafe working conditions which resulted in tragic incidents. In 1911, a fire in the cramped working quarters of the Triangle Shirtwaist garment factory killed 146 women just arrived from Europe (Foner, 2014). Insensitive management was blamed. In 1908, protest against overworking of women took in the landmark case Muller v. Oregon where the courts upheld the protest (Foner, 2014).
Lost Lands of the Native Americans
It was necessary for the government to control vast tracts of land to build the nation-wide railroads and inevitably, land had to be appropriated from residents which were the Native Americans or American Indians. Resistance led to bloody wars and it led to the infamous massacre at Wounded Knee in 1890 which captured the nation’s attention (Zinn, 2005).
Reserved land for the Indians called reservations took a downturn in the misguided Dawes Act of 1887 (Foner, 2014) where these reservations were forcefully subdivided for farming purposes. Inability for the Indians to become farmers forfeited their land to white settlers and the Indians eventually lost 24 million hectares.
Effects on the Workforce
Industrialization created a class conflict between capitalists and workers. Unbridled profiteering and lame government regulation led to vast fortunes and suppression of compensation for the masses. Wages were kept low which prevented the middle class to grow and increase consumption in the economy. The health and safety of workers were also severely compromised resulting in injuries and fatalities in otherwise preventable workplace accidents. Just before the turn of the century, an average of 35,000 deaths (Foner, 2014) and 1 million injuries occurred in jobsites. The management trend of work specialization limited the acquisition of skills of people and turned them like cogs in a machine. By 1880 five million Americans were engaged in manufacturing, construction, and transportation and paid hourly wages; a majority with non-farming jobs (Foner, 2014). The availability of women and children created slavish labor conditions and contributed to unemployment among men.
Conclusion
The second industrialization in the US was the turning point for the country in becoming a world economic power but caused many negative effects on the mass labor force which was exploited by capitalist owners.
References
Foner, E. (2014). Give Me Liberty!: An American History (4th ed., Vol. II). New York: W. W. Norton & Company.
More, C. (2000). Understanding the Industrial Revolution. Abingdon: Psychology Press.
Zinn, H. (2005). A People's History of the United States. New York: Harper Perennial Modern Classics.
Sage, H.J. (n.d.). The Gilded Age: United States History 1865-1900. Sage American History. Retrieved August 6, 2016 from http://sageamericanhistory.net/gildedage/index.html
