American Industrialization

American Industrialization Nathan Bates AIU Online Abstract This paper explores industrialization and how the process impacted events in American history. The American Industrial Revolution was immensely consequential and influenced events which have produced the modern society of today. Secondly, this essay will provide descriptions of both, positive and negative, effects that industrialization has had on the lives of Americans and the nation as a whole. Lastly, an analysis of how the Industrial Revolution in American history served as a benefit or a detriment to the nation and the citizens of America.American Industrialization Historically, industrialization of any society marks an experience and phase of historic significance. In addition to practices such as farm production, societies are awarded the process of manufacturing, producing an astounding and substantial impact in every aspect of life (Beck, 1999). As a result of the American Industrial Revolution, modern society benef ited from advances in technology, employment increases, and an overall improvement in the quality of daily life. American Industrial Revolution: Positive EffectsDevelopments of industrialization positively affected Americans during the Industrial Revolution. Two advances during this period that had an impact on society and escalated American advancement were transportation and the creation of jobs. Transportation vastly improved the lives of citizens with the completion of roads, canal systems, steamboats, the Transcontinental Railroad and public mass transit (Lipovac, 2011). Innovations in textiles, steam power and iron works produced numerous jobs which brought many individuals looking for work into the cities (Bond, 2003).As people moved from rural to urban areas, cities progressed and expanded which led to vast amounts of innovations, greatly improving the quality of life for citizens as well as improved commerce and economy for the nation as a whole. American Industrial Revolut ion: Negative Effects The speed at which progression and innovation were occurring led to many negatives as the nation scrambled to adapt. Damage to the environment as well as exploitation of workers are situations that arose during the Industrial Revolution.Factories and industry failed to adequately account for ecological considerations which have led to climate change being a modern day challenge (Han, 2012). Additionally, as employment exploded, the amount of hours worked, pay rates for employees, child labor practices, and workplace safety had little or no regulations (Hopkins, 1982). As time progressed many of the work place issues were addressed as well was the formation of organized labor which gave workers a voice.Despite the vast advantages the American Industrial Revolution provided society, the speed in which changes were taking place provided many opportunities to make mistakes and learn as a nation. Beneficial or Detrimental to America Overall, the events and innovatio ns that created the American Industrial Revolution were immensely beneficial to the America we know today. Although there were many opportunities to learn from the changes the country encountered, the positive impact industrialization had on society was magnificent.Improvements in transportation caused the world as a whole to become a much smaller place as travel and communication greatly improved. Work place conditions and practices eventually became regulated, fair, and safer for the American workforce. Modern American society owes a great debt to industrialization as it was one of the most transformational series of events in the nation’s history. Conclusion Not unlike the prehistoric discovery of fire and the wheel, American industrialization left future generations with a foundation and the tools for unprecedented innovation.The more recent revolution in technology, namely the internet and cell phone devices, owe a debt to the revolutionary period of American industriali zation. The United States as well as society worldwide has continued to grow, expand, and continuously innovate in the wake of the Industrial Revolution. References Beck, R. (1999). World History: Patterns of Interaction. Evanston, Illinois: McDougal Littell. Retrieved from http://www. owasso. k12. ok. us/webpages/gyankey/regadvhandouts. cfm? ubpage=174609 Bond, Gingerich, Archer-Antonsen, Purcell, & Macklem (2003-02-17). â€Å"The Industrial Revolution – Innovations†. Industrialrevolution. sea. ca. Retrieved 2011-01-30. Han, S. (2012). From the Industrial Revolution to a green revolution. OECD Observer, 94-95. Hopkins, E. (1982). Working Hours and Conditions During the Industrial Revolution: A Re-Appraisal. Economic History Review, 35(1), 52-66. Lipovac, N. , & Jandricek, A. (2011). THE LAND SURVEY AND TRANSPORTATION PLANNING IMPACT UPON MAKING OF AMERICAN CITIES. Prostor, 19(2), 443-455.    American Industrialization Early American settlers lived as primitive people during the antebellum but the gradual development changed their history that altered its identity and became the leader in industrialization. This change that started in few states had transformed the whole country from a simple agrarian importer of manufactured goods to an industrial thrust. Goloboy stated that, â€Å"Interruptions in trade associated with the American Revolution encouraged industrialization† (p. xiii).Primarily, before American people realized that they could possibly become as industrialized as its mother country, England, it went through some circumstances that caused developments in economy. First, American people steadily became acquainted with buying instead of producing their basic needs; this led to the increase of the demand for those needs. Second, along with the growing demand for goods they also discovered that goods could be produced more rapidly using the technology brought by the mother country. Third, the separation of America from England after the Independence War in 1812 led to the withholding of goods from Europe, which triggered Americans to â€Å"build their own factories† (p. xiv). By this time, many farmers left farming and moved to west to engage in factory works. It is said that industrial revolution that started in the early 19th century had caused changes in the rural system of the country that transformed the whole society.The rural system emerged while improvements in the political system took place that gave American people much opportunity to cope with changes. High standard of living continued to rise among communities while people enjoyed social, political, and economic progress as a result of American Revolution. Many jobs were opened to American women, education was improved and became compulsory to children, middle-class society also emerged, many leisure activities became part of their lifestyle, and most of all, and families achieved a better standard of living with all its comforts.Crothers in his review of Meyer’s ‘Roots of Industrialization’ emphasized that agricultural sector had fueled the industrial development in many cities; and the supply and demand grew further, which caused increase in labor force and wages and capital investment (par. 2). Local market that emerged in a given city turned to urban place where most commercial services occurred. Cities like Boston became the center of major business transaction among those cities, which according to Crothers â€Å"social networks of capital† (Meyer, 70, cited in Crothers).Basically, industrial revolution in America brought changes in the living condition of the people; primarily it transformed the rural system, which is the rise of urbanization. Urbanization came about due to the movement of more people to the cities where they got employment. Reformation follows as it brought both positive and negative impact in the life of American pe ople. Some of the positive impact of urbanization is that it brought people many benefits like finding solution to economic and social problems.For instance, education and health had improved; people finally understood the causes of many diseases and made considerable actions to that like setting of safety and health standards in homes, public places, buildings, water system, etc. Another benefit is improvement in people’s lives. Because of plenty work opportunities; they had the chances to enter the middle class. On the other hand, industrialization had weakened family life because parents who supposed to supervise the children stayed in the factory during the day; because of this, many children wandered in the streets and survived on their own.At this point of rapid industrialization, cities became prone to many social and environmental problems. The growth in population caused the dilemma of housing, sanitation, and health; crime rate got high while more and more families suffered from diseases because of pollution and stressful work in the factories. Kuser stressed that â€Å"Cities became overcrowded and polluted† (p. 7). With the influence of Romanticism ideology, American suburbs improved in the mid-1800s as transit lines, railways and urban planning were incorporated in the development.This transportation mode served as link among major cities of the United States. Conclusion Industrialization in American occurred unexpectedly perhaps, but it happened because people responded objectively to meet the demands of life. Besides, along the national independence they gained after a series of war against its mother country, agriculture grew further in many parts of the region, and manufacturing business in other region.The industrialization with influence of Great Britain transformed the rural communities until each evolved as urban. Reference Crothers, G. A Review of David R. Meyer’s the Roots of American Industrialization. http://www. h bs. edu/bhr/archives/bookreviews/78/acrothers. pdf Goloboy, J. (2008). Industrial Revolution: People and Perspective. USA: ABC-CLIO. Kuser, J. (2000). Handbook of Urban and Community Forestry in the Northeast. USA: Springer.