Industrialization after the Civil War Final Paper
I. Introduction
The Second Revolution takes place between 1860 and 1920s. During that period after the Civil War, there was a need for a massive industry to open trade networks and reach the Pacific plains. The aftermath of the Civil War saw American, realize the American Dream as the economy grew exponentially. Some of the opportunities that America had were abundance in natural resources in the newly acquired regions and a huge supply of cheap labor from immigrants. The Second Revolutions saw innovative ways to produce, communicate, and transport products to other territories. Prior to the development in the distinct transportation and communication system, America relied on a localized barter trade system. The industrial revolution was crucial in opening new market channels, entrepreneurs, investors, and corporations.
II. The Rail Road
Railroad building in United States during the Industrial Revolution has links with the destruction of indigenous people in the nation. The construction depicts conflict between the Whites and the Indians in the 1860’s. The construction disrupted the preservation of the cultures while it was inevitable in the industrial revolution. The first transcontinental railroad by the Central Pacific becomes a success to the detriment of workers that that faced different hardships. The expansion of the transnational railroad led to globalization, reduction of cost to transport heavy goods, and creating new opportunities for Americans.
Andrew Carnegie was the epitome of success in the railroad. He started as a telegraph operator, and he accumulated capital to enable him produce iron goods. Carnegie established profitable deals and mergers in his profitable businesses that saw him rise to become the owner of the first billion dollar industry around the world.
III. Technology
The industrial revolution saw the advancement of the quality steel, the light bulb, surplus production, electricity, skyscrapers, railroad, artificial lighting, and other inventions that transformed the lives of people. The industrial revolution between 1860’s and 1920’s was a period with technological systems such as telephone, steel making, electricity, and telegraph. Entrepreneurs applied steamboat technologies to design locomotives such as railroad. In 1775, James Watt designed the steam engine that creates a new mechanism to power machines. From that time, it was possible to run factories and productivity in the industrial sector. Eli Whitney designed the cotton gin in 1798 as Elias Howe designed the sewing machine in 1844. In transportation, Locomotives inventions inspired Robert Fulton to design steamboats in early 1800s. The electric motor was designed in 1888 while diesel engine was designed in 1892. In communication, Samuel Morse managed to invent the telegraph in 1830s. The device applied electromagnetic currents transmitted to wide distances through paper strips. Alexander Graham Bell had a patent to design the telephone in 1876 with the ability to transmit sound using electrical cables. Thomas Edison harnessed electricity to create the first light bulb in the late 1870s.
IV. Entrepreneurship
The accelerating rate of change after the end of Civil War was an astounding part of the decade due to technological inventions that led to better ways of doing business and the entrepreneurial geniuses such as Vanderbilt and Rockefeller. An era of entrepreneurship emerged after the end of Civil War where Congress passed legislation that saw big businesses establish corporations. After the Civil War, the corporations dominate, and the process transformed the American life. Profitable businesses merged to consolidate their efforts where they gained control of the market after successfully forcing other out of the competition. Some of the successful corporations included Rockefeller Oil Company, J.P Morgan banking house, Andrew Carnegie Steel Company, and Cornelius Vanderbilt Central Railroad System. J.P Morgan was a force to reckon in the management of money he was able to orchestrate huge financial deals during the industrial revolution. He had financial power to control railroads and other industries. The political elite used the House of Morgan to engage in diplomatic purposes.
V. Groups
Labor unions in America began in the early 1800s but did not have any significance until the 1870s. The period of industrialized saw, the workers like in harsh working conditions that led to workers organizing themselves in unions. One such union was the Knights of Labor that campaigned for equal pay for women, end of child labor, progressive income tax, among other reforms. Most of the members were African Americans and other immigrants.
In the era of the industrial revolution, the government did very little to campaign for the poor. The tenets of social Darwinism depicted by Charles Darwin that argued survival for the fittest took the center stage in the corporate world. Those that supported the theory of evolution argued that competition was essential to foster a healthy economy. The successful could forge alliances to assist each other, and they claimed that the government should not support the poor since they did not have economical value to improve the nation. The wealthy people that contributed immensely to national progress promoted the free market economy.
VI. Impact of the Average Working American
Most of the workers constructing the railway were immigrants from Italy, China, and Ireland that flooded the country. Workers faced weather challenges on the mountains and plains and harassment by the Indians that perceived the building was a violation of the treaties. Additionally, Indians understood that the railroads would bring white settlers in the territory. Factories in the 1880s employed many workers, and there was a huge disparity between owners and workers. Workers were at the lower end of the spectrum, and most of them constituted of immigrants that came in the country. The government paid cheap labor before they could organize themselves to campaign for better pay and good working conditions. The government took advantage of many immigrants come from Ellis Island. At the invention of machines and locomotives, the process of manufacturing eliminated skilled labor and that led to routine tasks
References
Clark, G., O'Rourke, K. H., & Taylor, A. M. (2008). Made in America? The New World, the Old, and the Industrial Revolution. American Economic Review, 98(2), 523-528. doi:10.1257/aer.98.2.523.
Berdal, M. (2003). How "New" Are "New Wars"? Global Economic Changes and the Study of Civil War. Global Governance, 9(4), 477-502.
The Industrial Revolution in America. (2006). Library Media Connection, 24(5), 76.
