Industrialization after the Civil War
Introduction .3
Economic Development ..3
Political Development .5
Social Development 7
Conclusion ..8
Reference ..10
Introduction
The American Civil War of 1861-1865 was a historical momentum of great significance. The capitalists of the North beat the South and thus determined the development of the whole State for the years to come. Due to the immense amount of natural resources, which facilitated the industrialization of the United States, the latter was also able to adopt the capitalist theories and implement them. The Civil War was a milestone in history which boosted the general development of the State and its industrialization, the main effects of which are to be seen in the economic, political and social fields.
Economic Development
After the Civil War, the government decided to develop the vast new territories in the West and follow the vector of constructing railways and roads, river channels, harbors. All of this contributed to the growth of industry and the creation of a large domestic market (Licht, 1995). The American’s used the European capital and borrowed the technical achievements of the advanced countries of Europe so as to implement them on their own territories.
Industry successes in the east of the country led to the fact that the eastern states capitalists subjected to the domination of the West's economy. In the Midwest, the major industrial centers appeared. Chicago, Pittsburgh, Cleveland have all seen the rapid development of new industries such as steel, petroleum, chemical, electrical, etc. Competition with other "old" capitalist countries and relatively high cost of labor encouraged the use of new machines, new technical inventions and more advanced methods of the organization of the production process (Licht, 1995).
This period saw an increase and a qualitative development of the agricultural production, especially the production of wheat. Exports of cheap American wheat were able to conquer the European markets even before the Civil War, whereas by the end of the 19th century, they only continued to grow (Licht, 1995). American farming after the Civil War has mastered the large tracts of land area in the West. For a period of 40 years - up to 1900’s and onwards the government introduced the Homestead Act, which allowed farmers to receive 81 million hectares of land into personal possession (Licht, 1995).
Appearance of Large Monopolies
The industrialization process and shift to the industrial vector of development in the United States took place simultaneously with the increase of investment and capital. This started long before the Civil War, nonetheless after, it simply intensified, especially after the crisis in 1873. The late 70's saw the development of the first association of capitalists. They first appeared in the form of pools (capitalists’ agreements on the size of the production and regulation of market prices). In the 90s they were replaced by trusts (Licht, 1995).
This monopolization took place in almost each sphere of the economy. As an example in 1900 almost 60% of all railways belonged to six companies – direct evidence of monopolization. Other monopolies soon followed. In 80-ies were organized tobacco, sugar, meat-packing trusts and so on. In the 90s trusts appeared in the sphere of coal mining, iron, gas, oil, and copper development (Licht, 1995). At the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, on the US territory existed 445 trusts having the capital of over $20 billion dollars. Large monopolistic associations, which in the 70s were a small and minor phenomenon, by the end of the 19th century had become a dominating power in the American establishment (Licht, 1995).
Political Development
With the destruction of slavery and the formal approval of political rights for blacks, the United States has become a country in which was established the utmost political democracy. However, further development of the United States political system most clearly revealed the limitations of this bourgeois democracy. The bitter struggle for the presidency, the seats in the Congress, the functioning legislative institutions of the state was simply a cover-up for the growing domination of the financial oligarchy (Bensel, 2000).
Before the Civil War, there was a two-party system - Republican and Democratic. After the war, this traditional division has started to less reflect the real balance of power. The Republican Party gradually ousted the petty-bourgeois democratic elements and became the party of large industrialists and bankers. The Democratic Party though firmly retained its influence in the South. Democrats focused on large planters, rich farmers, and the new bourgeoisie of the South and in the North on those interested in the tax-free importation of goods from abroad. During this period the difference between the two parties due to the transition to imperialism was beginning to fade (Bensel, 2000). The American ruling class skillfully used the two-party system to strengthen its domination. One of the parties, playing the role of opposition, became the center of focus for all the discontented, thereby preventing the creation of a genuine people's party (Bensel, 2000).
Political corruption was a widespread phenomenon and led to the fact that in large cities the local government became dependent on the party's "political machine". In New York it was the organization of the Democratic Party of Tammany Hall, in Philadelphia - the Gas Ring organization of Republicans. The “Boss” of the local party organization has amassed huge amounts of money and took care of the appointment and nomination of candidates for Congress and the state legislature. They often plundered municipal funds (Bensel, 2000).
The case of William Marcy Tweed became notoriously famous in 1872. He subdued all agencies in New York and robbed the city of almost $100 million dollars (Bensel, 2000). Tweed was sentenced, his followers were expelled from the municipal government. However, after just a few years, the city was in the hands of another group of politicians. The power and influence of the "bosses" were amplified with every passing year (Bensel, 2000).
Grant’s Government was in power, however, they did not take action against these terrorist groups and gradually gave in to the southerners. Former leaders of the Confederacy were amnestied. In 1876-1877 federal troops were withdrawn from the southern states, and the policy of the "reconstruction" of the South was stopped. Besides, neither the economic nor the political dominance of the plantation owners was eliminated. Moreover, the policy of racial discrimination against Blacks was resumed (Bensel, 2000).
US foreign policy saw intensified aggressive and expansionist tendencies. By the end of the 19th century, the US government developed the vast areas of the West and the United States captured the northern regions of Mexico. This process was very swift opening new opportunities for the industry in terms of new markets. However, this did not satisfy the trusts and already in the 80s the US started an active struggle with England for influence in Latin America. In 1889, at the initiative of the Secretary of State George Blaine Washington convened a conference of the Americas (Bensel, 2000). The United States offered 17 Latin American countries to establish the Inter-American customs union. The project was not a success, as the Latin American countries reacted to this initiative in a rather incredulous way. But the conference still approved the establishment of the "Union of American Republics to encourage trade, friendship, and peace." This was the beginning of the Pan American Union, which has been used by the United States for the expansion into the Americas (Bensel, 2000).
Social Development
Compared with the workers of the European countries, American workers, especially skilled ones, received significantly higher wages. However, the living conditions of people remained difficult: long working hours (usually not less than 10 hours), an extremely high degree of intensification of labor, unsanitary living conditions and high cost of rent, endless fines and extortion, exploitation of child and female labor, lack of insurance in case of unemployment and illness and so, all had a negative effect on the development of the social sphere after the Civil War (Rees, 2013).
Americans of Anglo-Saxon origin benefited over other nationalities making up the basic layer of more highly paid workers. Immigrant workers from Ireland, Eastern and Southern Europe, China and Japan were in a particularly difficult position (Rees, 2013). They were oppressed by both entrepreneurs and intermediaries, who recruited immigrants to work in the enterprises of different companies. The Black rural population eked out a miserable existence in the southern states. In an effort to improve their situation, Blacks massively migrated into cities, but they were only admitted to the most difficult and lowest-paid jobs (Rees, 2013).
The Native Indians were also subjected to expulsion. Remnants of Native American tribes were ousted into the desert and barren terrain, and have been condemned to extinction in the reservations-districts allotted to them for settlement. The final blow was dealt with the Indian tribes by the Dawes Act of 1887, which provided essentially for the destruction of tribalism and communal land ownership in reservations (Rees, 2013). The forced vesting of land to the head of the family, not only destroyed the Native American community but also allowed to deprive the Indians of even more reservation land, which remained after the division of communal lands.
The class struggle in the United States in the last third of the 19th century intensified due to the plight of the masses, especially during periods of frequent economic crises. American workers pioneered in the struggle for the 8-hour working day (Rees, 2013). The main efforts of American workers since the mid-60s of the 19th century have been focused on this task. Created back in 1866 the National Workers' Union has played an important role in the American labor movement having successfully accomplished among many the task of establishing the duration of the working say at 8-hours. The Union suggested workers fight and be proactive in their political activity, international solidarity of the working class, women's rights, helping organize Black workers National Union of Colored Workers, even though it was unable to unite the white and colored workers into one organization (Rees, 2013).
Conclusion
The development of the US after the Civil War was strictly divided into the economic, political and social sphere. Each had its own peculiarities. The US economy saw the development of the industry and mass industrialization leading to the creation of trusts and even whole monopolies in certain sectors of the economy. Steel, Oil, Railway, and other trusts appeared across the country, allowing their owners to get a large income. The influence of trusts was so large that their owners started to influence the State politics, lobbying their own interests in the designated sector of the economy. The political games were played between two parties, as the Republicans and Democrats became the leading actors in the US political arena. Nonetheless, they still defended the interests of the trusts that funded their campaigns. This led to an increase of corruption and general turmoil in American politics. However, the domestic market was not the main aim of the Trusts seeking for ever increasing enrichment. Starting a war with Mexico, confronting England for the Latin American countries and even the attempt to sign a treaty with them were the key events in US foreign policy. The social sphere saw the establishment of workers’ Unions, which did fight for and defend the rights of the workers, aiming to ease the conditions of work, and instill the production process that would be beneficial for all.
Reference
Bensel, R. (2000). The political economy of American industrialization, 1877-1900. Cambridge England New York: Cambridge University Press.
Licht, W. (1995). Industrializing America : the nineteenth century. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Rees, J. (2013). Industrialization and the transformation of American life : a brief introduction. Armonk, N.Y. London: M.E. Sharpe, Inc.
