Industrialization after the Civil War in America
Industrialization after the Civil War in America
Industrialization after the civil war was a great turning point in the history of the modern America. It marks a period of great transformation in a country. The United States realized and underwent through a rapid development. This was a period whereby industries were being built and there was availability of more jobs for the American people (Rees, 2015). During this period, the political arena also faced corruption. After the civil war, the industrialization process took on a tremendous and an unpredictable change on many sectors in America. These changes as a result of industrialization had major impacts on improving American life.
This paper outlines the three aspects of industrialization of 1865 to 1920 that influenced the society, economy and political aspect of America. Another aspect focuses on the various groups that were affected by the process of industrialization. These groups had many differences in terms of gender, race, ethnicity, child labor and other aspects. Though the industrial revolution was a major turning point in the States of America, it also had effects on the life of the average working Americans. These are discussed below.
The three major aspects of industrialization in America that influences the economy, society and politics include: technology, entrepreneurship, immigration and transportation (Rees, 2015). In terms of entrepreneurship, there was the rise of big businesses in the economy of America. Due to the increasing level of technology, more industries developed. This increased business opportunities. The rate of business competition dropped. There was also the occurrence of many business mergers in the state. As a result, businesses became monopolistic in nature (Rees, 2015). This improved the economical sector of America. Another aspect is immigration. Due to the rise in business opportunities and many industries, there was availability of more workers. There were many immigrants moving to the United States. Within the states, people moved from the rural areas to urban centers in search of the available jobs. This favored the needs of the people in the society. Companies also earned greater profits due to the many workers. A great technological development was seen during this period. Industries used tools of great and high technological value. The farming sector experienced a change due to this. Tools such as tractors were now adopted for farming. This increased the farm outputs (Rees, 2015).
Groups affected by industrialization
It is true that industrialization marked great positive change in America. Again, this process also affected several groups in different ways. These include the middle and lower class, the African Americans, the women workers, the rural farmers and the Native Americans (Smith, 2006). There was the expansion of the growth of the middle class. There was increase in professional employment. The union labor groups had to defend workers. The middle and lower class workers were viewed as cost of production but not regular individuals. The African Americans were greatly affected. They never had any benefit from any of these industrial changes after the civil war. The wages for the African Americans was never increased. This led to segregation. The women who were in lower classes worked mostly in homes and factories. They were paid low wages than men. There was also the resistance to hire women because certain jobs were considered to be for men. More effects were realized by the rural farmers. Many people migrated to urban areas. Physical labor reduced in the rural areas (Smith, 2006). This left the farmers with little or no production of farm output. Again, there was not any government regulation of any business in the state. Finally, the Native Americans suffered from the white American racism (Telles, 2004). There was a problem of unity between the native and the white Americans. The expansion of the urban areas pushed them back to their motherland. They had to create room of employment for the middle and lower classes.
Effects on the average working American
The process of industrialization had certain effects on the working class. The first effect includes the low wages. In the pre-industrial period, workers experienced fair payment (Arnesen, 2007). Payment was dependent on the quality of product. During the industrial era, workers were less skilled thus they were paid as per hour of work. Secondly, many workers became de-skilled due to the introduction of mechanization. The third reason is that the works were put under long working hours. This was not favorable to them. The works had poor working conditions in their areas of work. They faced industrial accidents like deaths. Lastly, there was no provision of government safety nets for the workers. The workers were never given compensations by the government (Arnesen, 2007).
The process of industrialization was a basis for a great change in the United States of America. American people underwent much transformation in various sectors. These included the technological sectors, industrial sector, the farming sectors, the social sectors and even the political sector of its economy. These great developments have pushed the state to be in its current economical state today as compared with other nations. However the industrialization process also posed great challenges on the American economy that affected many people.
References
Arnesen Eric .(2007). Encyclopedia of U.S. Labor and Working-class History, Volume 1. Taylor & Francis
Rees Jonathan. (2015). Industrialization and the Transformation in American Life: A Brief Introduction. M.E Sharpe.
Smith, W. R. (2006). Spotlight on America: Industrial Revolution. Teacher Created Resources
Telles, E.E (2004). Race in Another America:The Significance of Skin Color in Brazil. Princeton University Press
