Industrialization is a situation in which the economic system of a nation changes from dependence on human labor for the production of goods to use of machines. When a large amount of capital merged with the workforce, the input of the company increases thus causes a reduction in the cost of production. Industrialization also brought negative impact on the life of the Americans. The three main aspect of industrialization that influenced the economy, politics, and society of the United States between 1865 and 1920 are technology, entrepreneurship, transport, and communication.Major Aspects of Industrialization
Industrialization in the United States led to inventions of advanced technology such as the use of electricity, and new machine. New sophisticated machines replaced the manual work thereby improving the workforce in the industries (Kilduff & Russell, 1952). The modes of transport intensified promoting the movement of people and goods. The new educational fields in production, constructions, repair, and maintenance of machines of machinery came up. The emergence of advertising agency increased the ability of the industries to lure consumers into buying the new products when the supply was higher than demand (Dempster & Isaacs, 2014).
The presence of diverse natural resources such as water, timber, coal, and iron in the United States played a very important role in the improvement of businesses. In addition, industrialization improved transport sector by introducing of new and advance railways. In the early 1890s, the United States had the best railroad network in the entire world. The trains transported raw materials to the cities for industrial use and finished products from the industry to all parts of the nation (Dempster & Isaacs, 2014).
Even though the industrialization improved the life of Americans, it caused a great negative impact on their life. The factories caused water, air, and soil pollution to the entire nation. There were poor working conditions since the laborers spent more time at the factories with low income at the end. This led to increased riots and protests among workers. As the population of the United States steepened, job competition inclined, leading to the oversupply of workers from the rural areas hence increased unemployment (Kilduff & Russell, 1952).
Specific Groups Affected.
The United States industrialization affected five major groups of people including, the government, the wealthy, women, immigrants, and farmers (Anderson, 2014). Industrialization created job opportunities for the women in the factories although the payment was very low. This gave women courage to fight for their rights especially voting right (Kilduff & Russell, 1952). The immigrants were discriminated against and given lower wages for jobs, compared to the American workers. To the farmers, new agricultural equipment and techniques came up. This enabled most farmers to increase their productivity. However, the American economy moved from farming to being industrial thereby affecting many farmers (Dempster & Isaacs, 2014).
Industrialization created job opportunities to the common majority. The working conditions became very poor as workers received little income and went for long working hours. There was overcrowding in the cities where the factories were located as most people moved close to factories. There was need to educate the immigrants and their children in order to learn the new language, English. As a result, the children in the overcrowded slums experienced little or no education, poor sanitation, and poor diet (Anderson, 2014).
Conclusion
After the Civil War in the United States, the American industry changed as the use of machines replaced labor in production sectors (Kilduff & Russell, 1952). Industrialization caused major impacts on the entire nation. It had both the positive and negative effects on the American society, economy, and politics. However, the new technology, entrepreneurship and improved transport and communication have contributed to an industrial revolution in the United States.
- Anderson, J. L. (2014). Beyond the Rust BELT: The Neglected History of the Rural Midwests Industrialization after World War II. In , The Rural Midwest Since World War II (p. 72). DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press
- Dempster, G. M. & Isaacs, J. P. (2014). Structural change in the U.S. economy: 1850–1900. Structural Change And Economic Dynamics, 31112-123.
- Kilduff, V. R. & Russell, J. T. (1952). INDUSTRIALIZATION IN THE UNITED STATES. Journal Of Marketing, 16(3), 306-315
