The Industrialization of America Many people consider America to be the leader of the technological world; however, that has not always been the case. Before America became the industrial dynamo that is today, there were multiple other countries that it had to compete against such as China, England, Japan, and Germany. While each of these countries prospered at some point throughout their technological history, America was able to learn ways to adapt in order to compete against each and every one of them. The Industrial Revolution has contributed to America in a number of ways. It has contributed to the economy and the working conditions of laborers (Saunders, 1919) (“The Industrial”, 1966). On the other hand, the industrialization of America can also be associated with some negative setbacks (Volti, 2014).
Though the Chinese were not the first culture to have an industrial revolution, China did develop a large array of the technology that is was used at that time (Volti, 2014). Their many inventions had caused them to be named as the world’s leader of technology. Unfortunately, the Chinese ended up losing that title to the Europeans after two centuries of holding it. The Europeans were able to do this because they decided to adopt the technology of the Chinese, improve it, and use if for their own gain (Volti, 2014). The Chinese had refused to use any foreign inventions even when the Chinese joined forces with the Soviet Union to become a Communist country (Volti, 2014).
The industrial revolution began in the 17th century and made significant change in the world. An era was over and the new one was beginning. The revolution has advantages and disadvantages. Rising of living standards, improving of health, lifetime and trade system are its advantages. On the other hand, manufacturing has caused major problems such as deforestation, excessive use of fossil fuel sources, irresponsible industrialisation and agricultural development. These changes have increased world’s atmospheric concentration of water vapour, CO2, CH4 and other gases (Stocker, 2013). These gases capture part of energy receiving from sun and trap this heat inside atmosphere that causes rising temperatures on the earth’s surface. Naturally, for continuation of life these gases are necessary, but result of the human events these gases has produced more than plants and environment need (Robins, 2016). Also, we call them Green Houses Gases because they have the similar effect like the ‘greenhouses’ utilised to increase condition of vegetables.
The Chinese invented many machineries, but they did not use those machines efficiently. An example of China technological regression includes the machine to spin hemp, which was never adapted to the manufacture of cotton preventing cotton spinning from mechanized (Shiue & Wolfgang). During this time, England continued innovating and surpassed the Chinese’s empire. By the late eighteenth century, the lack of scientific innovation shows why the Chinese’s industries were falling behind and solely depended on labor-intensive industries. In addition, the lack of interest in experimenting also caused the Chinese to reduce the scope of their technological advancement. The lack of institutions that support technical progress prevented China from experiencing the Industrial Revolution. China differed from Europe because “they preferred to put their best thinking into philosophy, art and other aesthetic and academic studies, to the relative neglect of technology” (Golas, 2015). When knowledge is confined to a small group of people and especially those who are ignorant of the topic, invention could fail to emerge. In such a conservative society, people are constrained from expressing their ideas and interests. Since exploration was not encouraged in this society, technology stopped improving. Although its geography may have helped them to become the core power of the East, China could not catch up with the West because its political and social system did not support its people interest in innovation and exploration. Confucianism reinforced the notion that China was a “perfect” empire and had everything necessary. China’s centralized and superior nature led to an unwillingness to cultivate a class of technical experts. The lack of exposure to the outside world limited the Chinese people awareness of other fast growing economy like
The phrase ‘Rise Of Smokestack America’ is often used in reference to the industrial revolution during which America’s industrial growth led to the growth of factories and modern cities, the development of social classes due to division of labor and race. During this period, the American labor force transformed tremendously as the nation evolved from a largely agricultural society into a relatively modern society.
America had a huge industrial revolution in the late 1800”s. Many changes happened to our great nation, which factored into this. The evidence clearly shows that advancements in new technology, a large wave of immigrants into our country and new views of our government, helped to promote America’s huge industrial growth from the period of 1860-1900.
America has been expanding and growing since its birth out of Great Britain. The Industrial Revolution has been an influence in the American life since it first began in the 1700s. Many of the effects resulting from the revolution still affect America to this day. The entrepreneurs of this time and their industry still are around, although they have molded and shaped themselves into better products their still known from the originality of it all. Although the Industrial Revolution began hundreds of years ago it has affected everything on a global scale with other nations adapting from the innovations of this era. Economically speaking its increased money for the nation tremendously although the nation in debt to other nations to this day;
Between 1865 and 1920, industrialization caused significant changes in many people’s lives. First, the development of a new railroad system help settle the west and made it more accessible to people. Second, public transit systems in big cities provided an outlet from congested cities. Last, the discovery of a method for transmitting electricity helped to light up our daily lives. I feel that these are three of the most important changes in people’s lives caused by industrialization.
Before the Industrial revolution people knew very little about the world and were used to making whatever they needed with their hands. Life was quiet because there was no machinery to make any noise. No one traveled very far on a regular basis because there was no way for rapid transportation and there were no clocks, people just used the rise and setting of the sun. When the Industrial revolution started, the nine to five job life style emerged as well and life changed for everyone.
Industrialization was a turning point in history for countries across the globe in the 18th century and the 19th century. In the time period of 1850 and 1914, most of Western Europe and America had already experienced impressive economic and lifestyle adjustments thanks to industrialization. In this time of constant innovation and change, Japan and Russia were both trying to industrialize like Western Europe and America did. The goal for both: to keep their own identity and culture in the process and ultimately have great success. Although both Japan and Russia had a similar goal with industrialization, and both were driven by a state-sponsored industry, the experiences for industrial workers in Russia were significantly worse than those in
During the rise of industrialization, the United States had just ended the Civil War and was starting to move on. People had an aspiration at this time to make a more than decent living for themselves, and the economy was at the right spot for this to be possible. This time period in American History is referred to as the Gilded Age, termed by the famous author Mark Twain, which simply means covered in gold; however, Twain did not necessarily mean this in a good way. He believed right under the surface of this gold plating was still problems with the American society that didn’t look so appealing. This essay will discuss how practices during the rise of industrialization during the Gilded Age shaped the American work and labor force.
Shrey Saretha 2/8/15 P.4 Industrialization Document Based Question From 1865 to 1900, the United States of America was going through a period of industrialization. This transformation of the U.S. society to a society primarily based on the manufacturing of various goods and services produced a wide range of effects and reactions from the American society at that time. Although some historians may argue that industrialization had a mainly negative effect on U.S. society due to the unfair and now illegal practices taking place at that time, the reforms that took place because of these practices helped create many positive changes for society that still exist today. The initial positive outcomes of industrialization, the negative outcomes, and
The American Industrial Revolution took place in the United States during the 19th and 20th century. When the new uprising change came to America, the United States was heavily influenced by European ideas, which for Europe began in the late 18th century (Hillstrom 10). America started off primarily as an agricultural country until it gained dominance in industry and finance by 1918. Labor, politics, enslaved African Americans, and such important resources were of the many factors that helped spread industrialization. Additionally, the U.S. government was effectively involved by supplying equipment and assisting to the many advancements from the nation’s transformation (Hinshaw and Stearns vol 2 491). Within a single century, the
The Industrial Revolution is the name given to the movement in which machines changed people's way of life as well as their methods of manufacturer. It brought three important changes: inventions of machines that simplify and speed up the work of hand tools, use of steam (and other power) versus human power, adoption of a factory system. Workers were brought together under one roof and were supplied machines. The Industrial Revolution began throughout the world relatively during the same time period, and although it had its beginning in remote times, it is still continuing in some places.
The United States has always housed two types of people: those who embrace change and those who resist it. From loyalists and revolutionaries in the eighteenth century to democrats and republicans in the twenty-first, changing economic tides and social conditions often spark factions in this nation. In the case of the Antebellum period, new technology and working environments caused turmoil. In a few short decades, the country would be locked in a civil war. However, before that came a series of religious and reform movements. Some of these movements would grow into national conversations, but began first with small groups. In Antebellum America, industrialization caused a breakdown in social structure, especially norms of class, gender, and race. This led to middle and upper class men in the North and the South using similar strategies to resist social change. Industrialization also allowed alternative voices to advocate for entirely new dynamics of power surrounding class, gender, and race.
The Industrial Revolution did not start simultaneously around the world, but began in the most highly civilized and educated country in Western Europe – England. An empire like Great Britain was able to prevent the flow of new technology and experienced technicians to its colonies even while new machinery, like the spinning shuttle and the spinning jenny, was being used to develop textile manufacturing at home in England. The British Parliament was able to control its territories through laws and other restrictions. However, Britain’s futile attempts to block the development of new technologies in the American colonies led directly to the rise of the textile industry and the beginning of the Industrial Revolution in the United States.
The advent of industrialized civilization has brought to us many remarkable feats that enhance our everyday lives. Such things as automobiles, airplanes, tractors, mainframe computers, and even relatively simple machines like lawnmowers have intertwined themselves into the everyday culture of modern day industrialized countries.. These products have provided us enormous benefits compared to the types of lives our ancestors used to live. In the eyes of some, the consequences of industrial activities that have evolved around the world will not pose any problems in the future, however as most have realized, this is not true. Contemporary production processes use fossil fuels such as oil, which release dangerous amounts of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere. In addition, certain products such as vehicles are notorious for their inefficient combustion cycles that also release comparable amounts of certain greenhouse gases into the air. Moreover, emissions from agricultural practices, land use change and forestry, and other industrial activities have led to dramatic increases in atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide, methane and other gases since pre-industrial times. (Fig. 1) The world was quick to act upon this realization by negotiating the Kyoto Protocol in December of 1997, the result of a process that began by a United Nations led conference in the early 90s. Since then, the debate for ratification among the negotiating countries has been ongoing, for the simple