Category: Industrialization

Industrialization and transformation in Thomas W. Hanchetts Sorting out the New South City: Race, Class, and Urban Development in Charlotte, 1875-1975 and A Shopkeepers Millennium by Paul Johnson

Introduction

The history of every city is unique though we can easily trace certain patterns in development of settlements through time in different countries. For instance, the cities in the United States of America have similar history in terms of transformation and the role of industrialization in the formation of neighborhoods.

Class and race distinctions were obvious before industrialization came to the country whereas their interactions with the new way of life became apparent when the city emerged as a scope of neighborhoods each based on class and racial distinctions.

The concepts of transformation and industrialization can be seen in the books Sorting out the New South City: Race, Class, and Urban Development in Charlotte, 1875-1975 (1998) by Thomas W. Hanchett and A Shopkeepers Millennium (1978) by Paul Johnson.

Space and the City

Race and class. Every city has its functions as well as every district of it is inhabited by people that have something in common.

Though it is difficult to stay calm while talking about racial discrimination that took place a long before such a concept appeared, racial and class distinctions can be considered one of the primary reasons why neighborhoods were built in this way. As such, Hanchett (1998) labeled the chapters of his book in accordance with the racial belonging of the citizens that inhabited the neighborhoods in Charlotte, North Carolina.

As such, the distinction between different races was obvious even in the framework of the old country town where employees were farmers as well as their employers. At the same time, every person knew about those transparent borders that existed between the neighborhoods and chances of living in one of those.

Relationships between employees and employers can be considered one of the complicated issues in the world history. The roles may shift, the rights may widen while it is impossible to predict the changes in economical development of the society.

As such, people that lived in Rochester, New York and Charlotte, North Carolina could not guess that employees would obtain a kind of freedom with regard to independent living compared to the living on the territory of their employer before industrialization and further changes. As reported by Johnson (1978) about working men that performed different tasks in the farms, these men moved too fast to be counted (p. 37).

At the same time, day laborers and journeyman craftsmen made up 71 percent of the adult male work force (Johnson, 1978, p. 38). In this respect, there were enough men to work though not all of them were representatives of the upper classes.

Employment and urban structure. Transformation of so-called country towns was an integral part of the changing circumstances. In other words, the space of the city Charlotte and the one of Rochester was logically divided into the territory of white-collars and blacks, rich people and those who could not afford even commodities.

At the same time, the practical framework of such division was obvious as people obtained a chance to live on their own when the industrialization rose. However, as suggested by Johnson (1978), Rochester retained the economic functions and much of the look and feel of a country town (p. 37).

This means that basic economic functions were shaped before industrialization and the transformations were insignificant regarding the previous area planning of the city. Rochester, as well as many other cities of the time, was a country town with its functions and traditions and employees could easily live in the house of their employer due to the necessity of waking up early and perform various functions.

Every person had certain rights though the rules of living were not written but clear to everyone because they concerned the division of neighborhoods. It is obvious that the current neighborhoods are results of the policies and traditions that existed long before the industrialization shifted roles of employees and employers.

The previous scheme introduced an employer and his helpers who were hired to fulfill the same job or other minor operations than the employer. As reported by Johnson (1978), the industrialization shifted roles of employers and employees and changed the way they were perceived: a new image of the trading field completed the separation of men who made shoes from those who sold them (p. 39).

As such, people treated those two categories of workers differently making distinctions between men that can sell things and those who are able only to make those. However, the main distinction lies in the manufacturing of commodities and the fields of specialization of other people that were not involved into metal and machinery issues.

Hanchett (1998) outlines the situation in the urban planning as an integral part of the process of industrialization which contributed greatly to urbanization making countrymen move to cities while seeking for a job.

However, tension in the cities such as Charlotte made everything even worse: tensions that had arisen during the 1890s and goaded the development of a new feature on Charlottes urban landscape: sizable blue-collar residential districts (Hanchett, 1998, p. 90). At the same time, it is necessary to emphasize that black neighborhoods also emerged in the process of industrialization when representatives of two races tried to avoid each other at least in their residence while they had to work together.

Nevertheless, the problem of neighborhoods became apparent only for people that care about it and think that the historic differentiation based on race and class belonging became an unwritten rule for all citizens. The times change as well as traditions of urban planning; so, people are free to choose their neighborhoods.

Transformation and time. Transformations in urban planning can be treated as the result of changes that took place in society and in economic situation while the roots of those changes lie deep in the class distinctions between masters and slaves. Though manufacturers had to produce a lot of commodities, the blue-collars could be also divided into specific groups in accordance with the industry in which they were involved.

As such, Hanchett (1998) suggests that a 1926 survey showed 141 Charlotte manufacturers producing a total of 81 different commodities (p. 94) while corps of carpenters, brick masons, and painters almost matched the number of textile mill employees. A third important blue-collar group were the metal workers and machinery men (p. 95).

In other words, the blue-collars were workers that were involved into the manufacturing industries that produced commodities while lack of demand was an integral part of the industries where blacks were the majority of the work force.

Transformations cannot be made within a year or two. At the same time, the changes in the neighborhoods of Rochester and Charlotte cannot be eliminated within a year or two because they have deep roots in the history of those cities based on class and race discrimination and consequences of industrialization.

In other words, the cities like Rochester and Charlotte that were country towns could remain those silent country towns with farmers and small workshops whereas the period of industrialization enabled people of those cities to take their chance and become manufacturers and salesmen.

When talking about the history of transformation in the neighborhoods, it is necessary to focus on the reasons and consequences while the urban planning cannot be changed because people built their neighborhoods consciously without being forced to do that. Besides, no person can force others to live in the neighborhood with someone he/she does not like regardless of the reasons for such dislike for those people.

Conclusion

People may choose whether to live in Charlotte or in Rochester though every of the cities with long history lives in accordance with traditions that depend on the class and racial discrimination that emerged long before industrialization.

It is necessary to understand that industrialization cannot be treated as the main and only reason for such a division where black neighborhoods are clearly distinct from those of blue-collars. Every person should be able to differentiate between the consequences and stereotypes that can be overcome with regard to the changes that take place in modern cities.

References

Hanchett, T. W. (1998). Sorting out the New South City: Race, Class, and Urban Development in Charlotte, 1875-1975. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.

Johnson, P. (1978). A Shopkeepers Millennium. New York: Hill and Wang.

Trains are among the most invested mode of transport in the modern era in big economies such as China, the USA, and Russia. The trains are used for public and load transport because of their higher mechanical abilities. However, despite their impressive abilities, they started as inefficient and poor innovations that were innovated back in the early 17th century. Their development was done in phases, with the government supporting their improvement as they were transforming industrialization.

The steam engine is a remarkable technological innovation that changed the phase of industrialization. In 2006 McClellan & Dorn explain that the innovation was crafted by Newcomen and his plumber assistant John Cawley through their traditional intuition. The condensed steam in a cylinder creates a vacuum leaving the atmospheric pressure to drive the pistonthe mechanical technique of injecting cold water through the valve to condense steam developed through trial and error. Unfortunately, the development of heating and large cooling cylinders made the engine inefficient through its massive coal consumption, thus restricting its operations within coal mines.

In the mid-18th century, English craftsmen John Smeaton and James Watt improved Newcomens engine. Through empirical methods and systematically tested models, Smeaton and Watt varied the dimensions of the engine steam parts until they doubled the engines efficiency (McClellan et al., 2006). Then, in 1765, they arrived at the idea of condensing steam separately, thus reducing the use of coal. This fled the steam engine from using too much coal and thus used away from coal mines.

The development of the steam engine will remain a remarkable innovation that led to the spread of industrialization. Industrialization changed the social status of the world. It changed administrations through conquering and colonization. Developed economies through the radicalization of the transport system to and from the market and even changed the cultural setting through long-distance interactions. During its innovation, people anticipated its great revolution leading to its rapid development and improvement, which saw an easing the labor. Moreover, it showed great physics and Mathematical application during its development.

References

McClellan, J. E., Dorn, H., & Bertoloni, M. D. (2006). Science and technology in world history: An introduction. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

McClellan, J. E., & Dorn, H. (2006). Science and technology in world history: An introduction (2^nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press.

Few countries in the world escaped the period of social and economic change known as industrialization. In the United States, this process affected many cities, contributing to their development, economic growth, and an influx in population. This essay will discuss the industrialization of the city of Newark, New Jersey, and what factors caused it. Furthermore, it will consider who benefited the most from industrialization and what communities and populations were adversely affected.

The 19th century in the United States of America is characterized by industrialization. It can be defined as the process of transformation of the economy from the agricultural one to the one based on the production and manufacturing of goods. The industrialization process saw most manual laborers and artisans being replaced by mechanized mass production and assembly lines operated by unskilled laborers (Gowaskie 22). Although the mechanization largely displaced individual craftsmen, industrialization had many positive effects on the communities within the United States. For example, large-scale production of various products, including food, resulted in them being available to broader populations due to cheaper rates. In addition, industrialization led to more job opportunities being created for people. However, it can be argued that it also furthered the gap between the rich and the poor and the latters exploitation by the former.

In Newark, New Jersey, the process of industrialization began in the early 19th century. The citys rapid rate of development is often attributed to the inventor Seth Boyden, originally a native of Massachusetts (Tuttle 26). Making several improvements to his fathers hide-splitting machine, Boyden revolutionized leather manufacturing, culminating in his invention of the process of baking or patenting and the patent leather (Tuttle 26-27). Boyden opened the first leather factory in the United States and worked on iron and building steam engines and locomotives (Tuttle 27-28). In his exploration of novel ways of using the iron, Boyden invented the malleable iron, further contributing to the development of industry in Newark (Tuttle 28). The industrialization in Newark was possible to the rapid growth of railroads, connecting the city with other urban centers, including New York. Considering Boydens role in the development and production of steam engine castings, Newarks success in distributing the products produced in the city should also be attributed to Boyden. Thus, it can be argued that the inventor had the most critical impact on the city, with his inventions quickly being picked up by other artisans and manufacturers.

The rapid growth of new factories was also possible due to a large influx of immigrant workers from Europe. The inflow of the migrant workforce is directly correlated with the growth of the number of factories in Newark. During the financial crisis of 1837, many factories were forced to close, and the population of migrants fell to 3,624 (Tuttle 35). However, after the crisis was over, migrants from England, Ireland, Italy, Germany, and other European countries returned to the city. From 1840 to 1846, the number of factories with assembly lines and mechanized production rose to over a hundred, with migrants filling the available workplaces (Tuttle 35). Moreover, some immigrants from Europe established their businesses, creating more vacancies and ultimately contributing to the citys economy. By the end of the century, Newark was ranked third in industrial output in the United States (Tuttle 63). The article celebrating the 250th anniversary of Newark noted that the citys factories employ many workers, that need to be housed, fed, and educated (Hunt 52). Thus, industrialization led to a plethora of vacancies being created in other fields.

A wide range of populations benefited and suffered from industrialization in Newark. The investors in large enterprises, such as Jacob Little, who funded Morris Canal & Banking Company, greatly benefited from the industrialization (Tuttle 31). The owners of manufacturing plants, including those of immigrant origin, managed to grow wealthy due to offering cheap products and paying low wages. However, the workers employed by these factories suffered significantly from industrialization. Before labor unions were created, factory workers were minimal wages and could barely afford housing, food, and healthcare. In addition, many of them worked with dangerous materials, including mercury, and developed muscular tremors and breathing problems due to inhaling various vapors and fumes (Tuttle 72). In 1890, Newark was declared the unhealthiest large city in the country (Tuttle 72). Furthermore, many trades and crafts were lost due to skilled artisans having to lower their prices competing with cheap products offered by factories, and their apprentices opting for other work (New Jersey History Partnership 1). Thus, industrialization led to the gap between the rich and the poor growing, with the latter suffering from the process while the former prospered.

In summary, industrialization resulted in substantial changes in the economy and population of the city of Newark. The process of industrialization began in the first half of the 19th century with the opening of new factories producing leather, sewing items, malleable iron, and a variety of other products popular throughout the country. The investor and owners of such enterprises benefited from industrialization significantly, while ordinary workers were underpaid. In addition, many artisans suffered due to increased competition and loss of interest in their craft.

Works Cited

Gowaskie, Joseph M. Workers in New Jersey History. New Jersey Historical, 1996.

Hunt, William T. Newark and the Nations Progress. The Newarker, 1916, pp. 51-52.

New Jersey History Partnership. Article on Apprentices from the Newark Daily Advertiser, 1839. New Jersey History Partnership, pp. 1-2.

Tuttle, Brad R. How Newark became Newark: The rise, fall, and rebirth of an American city. Rutgers University Press, 2009.

Industrialization is a process of the fast development of the industry of a certain state in a certain period. Usually, it is determined by a set of reasons which exists at the current stage of development of a country. This phenomenon could be found in the history of each developed country which has big industrial potential.

This process is accompanied by great and significant shifts in a society which change the image of a country totally. That is why industrialization is a unique phenomenon and it is rather interesting to analyze its history in the USA, trying to understand its main peculiarities.

Industrialization of the country introduced new methods of production. New mechanisms promoted better results. Moreover, these mechanisms were able to produce more complicated goods, that is why new products appeared. These products included the typewriter, barbed wire, the telephone and the electric light (History of the United States. Industrialization and Reform (1870  1916) para. 8). Electric light was one of the factors which changed the landscape of the USA.

There was a great change in traditional traffic infrastructure. Significant growth of a number of railway stations could be observed. Different companies transported their production by rails as it was the quickest and the cheapest way to deliver goods. That is why railways guaranteed economic growth of the country. The industry got a shot in the arm and continued its blistering development.

Industrial Revolution was of great importance to the economic development of the United States (Kelly para.1). The value of goods produced in America increased almost tenfold and guaranteed stable economic development of the country (History of the United States. Industrialization and Reform (1870  1916) para. 12).

Moreover, the development of industry led to increasing in capitalization. People became richer and this fact promoted the development of the banking sphere. Banks in their turn often made loans to business, guaranteeing its development. Moreover, change in traditional means of transport also influenced the development of the economic sphere. Railways and telephone provided better communication and it became possible to make dealings faster and with greater benefits.

Industrialization also conditioned some change in the population of the USA. The appearance of new plants and factories resulted in great demand in the workforce. That is why more than 25 million immigrants arrived in the USA during the years of the Industrialization. (History of the United States. Industrialization and Reform (1870  1916) para. 10). As a result, a great number of different expat communities appeared.

At the same time, state of native-born Americans also improved. It became easier to find a job and there was a great salary increase. Living standards also improved. However, with the following growth of population competition for jobs raised. It became more difficult to find a well paid job. Moreover, great contrast between working people and the unemployed appeared. They had to live in extreme poverty, under horrible conditions.

Having analyzed the data connected with the phenomena of industrialization in the USA, it is possible to make some obvious conclusions. First of all, it should be said that it influenced greatly the development of the industry of the country, promoting new ways of production, and introducing new products to the market.

Development of industry led to economic growth. The great increase in the value of goods produced in the USA conditioned influx of funds to the economy. The population of the USA grew, supplying plants with the new workforce. With this in mind, it is possible to state the fact that industrialization influenced the development of the USA greatly.

Works Cited

History of the United States. Industrialization and Reform (1870  1916). n.d. Web.

Kelly, Martin. Overview of the Industrial Revolution. n.d. Web.

Introduction

Import substitution industrialization (ISI) is a trade and economic policy based on the premise that a country should reduce its dependence on imports through local production of industrial goods (Barrett, 2008, p. 96). Countries that pursue the ISI strategy often implement trade protection policies that restrict importation of manufactured goods. These include import quotas, high import tariffs, and domestic subsidies. Several developing countries adopted ISI strategies in 1940s and 1950s. This paper will discuss the factors that led to adoption of ISI strategies in developing countries. It will also discuss the factors that motivated developing countries to abandon ISI strategies in 1970s and later.

Discussion

The factors that led to adoption of import substitution industrialization include the following. To begin with, developing countries adopted ISI to stimulate rapid economic growth (Chang, 2003). Before the introduction of the ISI strategy, most developing countries depended on the export of primary commodities as their main source of foreign exchange earnings. However, primary commodities were vulnerable to price fluctuations and intense competition in the international market. Thus, the income from primary commodity exports was not expected to grow in tandem with the incomes of the developed countries that bought the commodities. This was expected to cause deterioration of terms of trade and poor economic growth (Boyes & Melvin, 2012). As a result, developing countries decided to adopt policies that promoted domestic production of consumer and industrial goods to avoid economic stagnation.

ISI was also adopted to promote creation of jobs in developing countries (Pegurier & Salgado, 2002). Substituting imports with locally produced goods meant that more factories and companies had to be established in developing countries. Consequently, more people would get jobs, thereby solving the problem of high unemployment rate.

Reasons for Abandoning ISI

First, most countries overvalued their exchange rates to promote ISI (Chang, 2003). This led to a significant reduction in agricultural exports, thereby reducing the incomes of the rural populations that depended on agriculture. Thus, poverty and high unemployment rate persisted instead of declining. As exports declined, developing countries found it difficult to access adequate foreign exchange reserves to import intermediate goods that were required for local production. This led to a slow growth rate in the industrial sector.

Second, the countries that adopted the ISI strategy promoted importation of machines through subsidies. This strategy was meant to improve efficiency and the level of output in the industrial sector (Boyes & Melvin, 2012). However, increased use of machines created a capital-intensive industrial sector. As a result, ISI did not solve the problem of unemployment since workers were increasingly being replaced by machines. Third, ISI had a negative impact on the wellbeing of citizens in developing counties (Pegurier & Salgado, 2002). Specifically, the reduction in agricultural export earnings forced rural populations to migrate to urban areas to look for alternative economic activities. Overpopulation coupled with high unemployment rate in urban areas led to emergence of informal settlements, which had deplorable standards of living. This led to high mortality and morbidity rates, especially, among children whose parents migrated from rural areas to informal settlements in towns.

Conclusion

Developing countries adopted the ISI strategy in order to achieve rapid economic growth. The strategy was expected to create jobs and improve the incomes of households and individuals. However, the strategy did not achieve the desired outcomes. Specifically, ISI increased poverty and unemployment in most developing countries. Therefore, ISI was abandoned because it reduced economic growth and development instead of improving the fortunes of developing countries.

References

Barrett, C. (2008). Development economics. New York, NY: Routledge.

Boyes, W., & Melvin, M. (2012). Macroeconomics. London: Palgrave.

Chang, H. (2003). Rethinking development economics. London, England: Anthem Press.

Pegurier, F., & Salgado, G. (2002). Sustainable development: Promoting progress or perpetuating poverty? London, England: Profile Books.

Industrialization is a significant process that had a crucial impact on the development of society for several centuries. These modifications are associated with the implementation of new technologies. Their primary purpose is to increase the level of productivity in the manufacturing and distribution of goods. It is important to mention that the required result of industrialization is to produce enough value for everyone. When the community can consume more goods, they begin to choose the most valuable ones among the variety of offers. The possibility to have better products and services because of new technologies leads to the rise of the standard of living.

The progress is usually treated as a general process in which impact can be evaluated only by future generations. However, it can be observed that in the current moment of creating new technologies, some societies become more developed and prosperous than others. For example, it may be caused by the specificity of their occupation. If the profession can be replaced by the implementation of the new technology, then this community needs time to find the solution and the new job. Another reason is the real benefit of modifications for some parts of society. If people created an automatic way of tailoring, it would be a noticeable advantage for the business owners in this sphere but would not have an impact on the agricultural community.

The technology increases productivity, and it provides more opportunities for choosing the best option among the possible ones. People prefer to consume things that want the most, that is why goods and services become not only a product but a value for particular parts of society. Nevertheless, some of the newly created products are reinvested in new technologies. In this case, the situation becomes circled, and the process starts over and over again. This situation is called the self-sustaining growth of capitalism.

The energy transition is an essential part of the process of industrialization as it illustrates the level of development of society. The first example is the creation of the steam engine and the transition of wood to coal in the late 1700s that had a significant impact not only on the sphere of transportation but on the economic situation in the world in general. The second illustration of the energy transition is the replacement of coal by oil after the turn of the 20th century, which was beneficial for the level of productivity. In the modern world, it is also possible to investigate the implementation of new technologies in this sphere: society faces an energy transition from oil to natural gas. Its cause is not only in improving the process and making it easier but also in the deterioration of the ecological situation in the 21st century. The energy transition is a way to create the most efficient method of using energy and producing value.

This process is vital as it initiates significant modifications in society. The changes in energy transition have an impact on all spheres of life of people. It is a complex process that requires the implementation of new technologies in diverse fields of manufacturing and distribution. On the one hand, this is a stressful situation where the result cannot be predicted with accuracy. On the other hand, this is an opportunity to ameliorate the quality of life in a gradual, at the same time, complex way.

New technology often destroys workplaces. The example of the bankruptcy of the Kodak company in the early 21^st century is an illustration of the influence of industrialization on business and people. The loss of job by the uncle may be related to the economic progress as no one wants to consume cameras anymore. Humans prefer to have smartphones with the possibility to take a photo. It simplifies their life as they have to use only one device for several tasks: call relatives, chat with friends, or make videos for Instagram.

Another example of creative destruction when the implementation of new technology leads to negative changes in other spheres is the case the company Moby Dick (1851). The implementation of new chemist technologies in whale hunting industry ruined the organization and caused the dismissal of thousands of its workers. The creation of kerosene increased productivity and lowered the prices, which made it best in all respects compared to hunting sphere.

Points of Ms. Martinez are not persuasive as the experience of the previous generations, and the impact of the industrialization on a life of ordinary people show that the implementation of new technologies cannot be beneficial for everyone. The introduction of modifications is accompanied by the loss of jobs, significant changes that might be stressful and harmful for specific industries. The plan of Ms. Martinez would be better if she introduced the steps which would help the suffering spheres overcome the potential problems and expenditures caused by the progress. What is more, it is not clear which methods of energy production she proposed, and it plays a crucial role in the modern world because of the ecological situation and the lack of resources. In conclusion, the ideas of Ms. Martinez should be more developed and detailed in order to provide an objective overview of the changes.

The urbanization and industrialization in the 19th century have made a change in America. Urbanization, the diverse that impacted the environment. As well as how things were created and a development in the work environment, it was a big growth for many things.

In the 19th century there was a rapid growth towards unity, social and politically. Cities attracted very rich people but it was forced that everyone from different places, different races to work together. Soon to be such a diverse population. Cities were mostly thought as the ‘American life’ of freedom and the social life, but in reality, it was more a working environment. In the desperate community, industrial giants paid immigrants very low knowing they are forced to work, having no choice but to accept the low wage. However, this changed as new immigrants became a larger part of the workforce. Industrial leaders thought that the best way of increasing profit was to fire their existing workers and hire new immigrants who would accept even a lower wage (Ferros 2019).

Industrialization has also made a change and a lot of developments in the labor industry. Industrialization before has depended on the division of labor, a step-by-step process which everyone is assigned a particular task. Most products in the 1800s were made by hand by skilled artisans. A lot of machinery and mills replaced all the workers that were making clothes, shoes, this changed quickly. There was also sewing machinery that helped the process and reduce the time for making clothes. Technology has made improvement in the living conditions (Misa 2019).

With the changes of machinery there was a lot of new things going on. There was a lot of debates over morality and women’s roles. Drugs became a problem like cocaine, a lot of military came home addicted to painkillers and mostly got addicted while medical treatment. At the end of the 19th century there was corruption in business and government, wealth, growth, and the gulf between rich and poor.

Social activist had spread, the civil right movements were inspired by people to demand for equal rights as well as women’s rights, United Farm Workers, the ‘Red Power’. There was diversity at the start of people migrating to the cities, when culture was being shared and learned from others. Native Americans were upset that immigrants taking their jobs. These groups fought every way against immigrants to have a control. The Chinese Exclusion Act banned them from entering the country due to the problem of ‘overpopulation’. With these reasons, immigrants united to right for their rights although their diverse backgrounds. Many Germans and Irish groups became democrats of work problems they would face (Ferros 2019).

There issues of the Gilded Age caused by a struggle of clean government, both the Republicans and the Democrats. Hayes was known for his controversy over the election results and scandals old the Grant presidency, also known of him doing the Civil Service Reform, hiring government employees and of Hayes’s trying to stay above the political bickering. Hayes’s commitment to cleaning up politics made republicans leaders very upset. At the end Hayes vetoed the Bland Allison Act, which would become one of the leading political issues in the late 19th century due to the growing demands for expansion. Politics at that time were dominated by huge corporations and was reflected on regional, ethnic, and religious differences (Shi 2019).

In 1876 there was a ‘greenback’ to promote the benefits of paper money over gold and silver coins and this won 15 seats in congress. Although by that there was effort to clean political corruption during the Gilded Age as well that the nation’s money supply has not grown and actually had decreased by ten percent all while the population has expanded. This came down to a ‘sound money’ policy which limited the currency supply and drew farmers to lower their profits and left them deeper into debt. The Granger movement that helped sell crops, buy and store without the high fees by brokers and middlemen. There was a lot the farmers Alliance that swept across the South.

The Panic of 1893 there was a major collapse in the national after many railroad companies declared bankruptcy, leading to depression and violent clashes between workers and management. A lot of farmers foreclosed and a third of all American farmers rented their land than owning it. There was a lot of the population that were left camping out. This depression lasted another four years. To help this they tried to convince congress to return all the money supply by repealing the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, this decision made it the depression worse. The party tried seeing if the they should ride the silver issue into power, that’s when the ‘money question’, a debate of the us currency between those for gold and others for silver, which they wanted to keep the money by increasing the supply and this determined the election. Later this led to Bryan’s ‘Cross of Gold’ speech and when Bryan won the presidential nomination there was a pro gold Democrats and pro silver Populists that had split due to him being a fanatic and a socialist and the democrats voted for their own candidate (Shi 2019).

By 1897, McKinley was president. At this time the economy was recovering and there were new supplies of gold, and prosperity that was returning. There was a lot of inflation of currency that was going on especially when gold was discovered. There was also a great growth and change of machinery, and technology innovations and social changes but there was a lot of increase in production and maximizing profits. The extent was to expand outwardly and enjoy their property, their land and have better lives as well as being able to have things for their needs in the cities. The country was focusing on the growth of production, population has grown as well for the working environment and now could be focusing on the effects of change to workers.

References

1. Aboukhadijeh, Feross. ‘Urbanization in the 19th Century U.S.A.’ StudyNotes.org. Study Notes, LLC., 05 Jan. 2014. Accessed 0ctober 1 2019.
2. Thomas J. Misa, A Nation of Steel: The Making of Modern America, 1865–1925 https://oxfordre.com. Accessed 19 2019.
3. David Emory Shi 2018 America the Essential Learning Edition. 2nd. NewYork: Norton.

In the 19th century, the period between 1865 and 1900 marked as a major threshold in the improvement of industrialization in America. The Northern society realized a profound positive change, due to the rapid expansion of industrialization. There were various factors that boosted the expansion of industrialization in America at the end of the 19th century. Some of these elements were improvement of the large-scale agricultural activities and increasement of the national labor unions. Also, the presence of technology necessitated the rise in industrial revolution in America at the end of the 19th century. Due to the rapid growth of enormous businesses, the activities were taken care of fewer people, despite the norm that all the citizens by then would benefit profoundly. United States was on the mark as the world’s greatest producer, during that period, due to mechanization. The whites, who were colonizers by then, took over the food production, due to greed.

Therefore, the notion people had about America having an opportunity for individual economic development in the late 19th century, was wrong. There was neither social equity nor democracy when it came to politics.

The greedy whites taking over the food production in America led to war between the whites and the Native Americans of the Plains. Also, the indigenous people were removed from their original lands. Such removal was done to ensure that the ruling whites had all the benefits that came from the food production, with them, accordingly. in the verge of competition, most of the organizations resulted in taking control of the market place to eliminate competition (Jaremski, 2014). Competitors were eradicated through buying them out or crashing them, or even signing the non-competition agreements. For example, there were cartels created to share the places of market and come up with standard prices of goods and services. The businesses were consolidated in the 19th century to favor a few individuals in the market.

Another reason why the end of 19th century period was not of help to all but some individuals was destruction realized. Family farms were disrupted during this time of agricultural modernization. For example, the famers were provoked to come up with protest movements, something that has never happened before (Kennedy & Chen, 2015). The movement wasted time for the local famers as they always concentrated on airing their grievances instead of working for their better future, accordingly.

Overpopulation was another factor of consideration. Immigration led to the growth of numbers of the whites. These whites were forced to live in urban centers, making it hard for them to be well governed. There were issues like poor housing and medical care to the individuals due to industrialization growth (Schulz et al., 2015). Despite the merits that industrialization came up with, the growth in population was one of the worst aspects that proved poor individual development during the end of the 19th century.

Also, ordinary Americans had no place in terms of profits, in the presence of the big corporations. The government did not have any policies curbing the working predicaments. Thus, the working conditions for the normal Americans were very harsh, not allowing for their personal growth in the era of industrialization. In connection to the harsh working conditions many characters were either injured or killed in the line of duty (Williamson, 2015). When employees went ahead to sue for damages, the jurists gave verdicts in favor of the employers because there were no rules governing the working regions.

In addition, personal growth was limited due to the long hours for the employees. The overall hours for labor fell under overtime, making the workers strain and face danger in their working environment. There were changes that indicated long working hours like for example in the Carnegie steel, where employees worked for 12 hours a day, and seven days in a week. This was different before the changes had taken place where the workers went to a maximum of 12 hours in a day and worked for six days in a week. Various companies had different working rates, though increased ones, straining the employees. The tired people who worked under the heat from the furnaces ended up making mistakes and get burnt to death of got acute injuries.

Salaries increased, but that had no merits to the workers since the economy was tight too. Workers got employed during the peak periods and were badly laid off during the off-peak era. It was a disadvantage to the people living during those times because of the economy (Schulz et al., 2015). When one was laid off duty and the economy was tight, they had to strain to satisfy their basic requirements, accordingly. Therefore, most workers were not fully employed. The struggle was on parents who had to get various sources of income for the survival tactics. Therefore, child labor rose, due to the need of basic need satisfaction. The children had to work, in term of ‘helping’ their parents in feeding the family.

Another demoralizing factor was segmentations amongst workers. The American work force was segmented more than the European workforce. European workers shared various aspects in terms of ethnicity and language. There was easy time in organizing the European workers due to the similarity in the various backgrounds different from the American workers who had shoddy organizations amongst themselves (Kennedy & Chen, 2015). Accordingly, the American workers encountered bitter tension due to the different culture and races they had. The immigrant workers had resentment on the native-born workers. The American workers could not be united for this case.

Finally, the government took sides with the employers, oppressing the workers. Various confrontations during the 1890s confirmed sides taken by the government in the industries. Some of these confrontations were the Homestead Strike of 1892 and the Pullman Strike of 1894. Worker had to strike, as a means of passing their information of the oppression from both the employers and the government (Jaremski, 2014). Due to the government siding with the employers, the unions did not develop the workers as stated in their policies. Thus, individual’s growth, economic-wise, was short-lived. The industrial revolution was marked by economic development of few characters.

In conclusion, the thoughts of most people having individual economic advantage in the 19th century, alongside social equality and political democracy was invalid. People took sides to benefits themselves. The government went to the extent of collaborating with the employers to oppress the workers. Workers increased their duty time to make their ends meet, accordingly. child labor was developed in the urge of satisfying the family basic requirement due to most workers being laid off, during of-peak seasons. These conditions fully described the state of people during the end of 19th century, when industrialization took place. Greed was the cause of all these demerits encountered by individuals.

Industrialization, like most things, has positive and negative effects. Industrialization has always benefited the wealthy company owners and has disintegrated the workers’ morale. Overall, it has done more worse than good in the pursuit of advancement. Companies have ignored the ethics of human rights, and the repercussions it would have on the earth’s environment. Due to industrialization, not only does the environment suffer as a consequence, but there are people suffering from the rapid urbanization and sweatshops in developing third world countries.

Dating back to Britain in the late 1700’s, prior to the movement towards manufacturing in factories, people usually made their products at home using their hands or basic tools. Industrialization came in when demand for various products went up. People would work in factories operating powered machinery used for mass production. Industrialization is the cause of urbanization; when factories were built people moved into the cities for the hopes of employment. It took a big turn when industrialization became mainstream as many companies expanded production and employment. Many companies in the U.S. came out such as the Standard Oil Company founded by John D Rockefeller, and the U.S. Steel founded by Andrew Carnegie. Sweatshops came into play as competition became fierce and manufacturers wanted to get a bigger share of the market in the 1880’s. As the U.S. economy developed the sweatshops moved to third world countries due to land, labor and capital being cheaper there for producing goods.

The biggest downside of industrialization is the toll it has taken on the environment globally. Global warming and the high density of air pollution is the result of industrialization. All the destroyed environments, deforestation, and waste material produced by humans is deteriorating the quality of earth and the inhabitants such as the plants and wildlife. Millions of gallons of toxic chemical waste in gaseous, liquid, and solid forms are being poured out into rivers, seas, and bayous daily. For example, the Ganges River, which is considered sacred to Hindus, is contaminated with many harmful toxic chemicals coming from chemical plants, textile mills, and coal power-based plants; yet many followers of Hinduism still bathe in it every day, knowing that the water has been linked to promote dysentery, cholera, and hepatitis. As many developing countries have been moving towards urbanizing into cities, it causes development of freeways and infrastructures to be built. This industrialization leads to destruction of biodiversity now more than ever.

As companies grow larger and more competitive, they tend to look for cheaper and more efficient ways to produce their line of products. They achieve this through the technique of setting up sweatshops in developing third world countries, due to the low cost of manufacturing and demand of people looking for work. The sweatshops going on in third world countries contribute to child labor, unfair wages accompanied with long hours in perilous working conditions, Bangladesh has more sweatshops than any other country. About 23% of the population or 3.5 million people work in 4,825 factories. These factories are heavily packed with young women and children working for twelve to thirteen hours for no more than two to three dollars a day. Sweatshops have been infamous for its unsafe working environments. For example, on March 25th, 1911, a fire broke out on the ninth floor of the Asch building in New York city; the floor overcrowded with sewing machines and 146 young workers looking to escape the fire. The only exit down the stairway was blocked. Those 146 young workers were burned to death. Some of those workers tried escaping through the window falling nine floors through the air, crushing the bystanders that tried catching them. A more recent case similar to this took place in Bangladesh, except it has happened many more times there. According to the Clean Clothes Campaign, since 2006 more than 500 Bangladeshi workers have died due to the unsafe working conditions in the sweatshops. These unsafe conditions have been consistent since the beginning of industrialization.

Urbanization is the process of people migrating from agricultural areas to manufacturing regions such as cities. Though, when the urbanization is fast and rapid, there tend to be a couple complications. In today’s developing countries, they are not ready for this instant growth, this leads to exhausting the available resources these countries have. Along with that, the overflow tends to be more people looking for places to stay than there are places to live. This leads to environmental pollution, overcrowding in public institutions and facilities as it did in New York during the industrial revolution in the 1890’s.

On the other hand, no one can doubt industrialization has done good, it has set up new opportunities of jobs in developing countries, allowed companies to produce more at a very low-cost, and has helped economies come out of debt. However, be that as it may, at the end of the day sweatshops are still immoral, the trafficking of the inner cities caused from rapid urbanization has people staying in unhygienic living conditions, and the earth is being polluted with toxic chemicals.

In summary, industrialization has its positive and negative views on society’s advancements, but overall the bad will always outweigh the good in this instance, for you can never put a price tag on human rights and the earth’s preservation for the betterment of industrialized companies’ gross income.

Industrialization, which has begun in Britain during the 18th century, caused rapid change in the manufacturing of goods. The revolution of industry has invented many ways to produce goods in much faster and efficient ways, making our lives easier. It emphasizes the usage of machines and labor power. The basic needs of human such as food, water, housing and transportation become more easily available. The rapid improvement of industrialization also gives way to the development of technology. This caused a breakthrough in the daily lifestyles of human. However, every success comes at a cost. Therefore, industrialization has negative effects both on the environment and the human relations. The major downsides of industrialization are increased rate of unemployment, social diversity and factories’ residues that are harmful to the environment.

Industrialization first started during the 18th century, producing goods in factories with rapid speed using laborers and machines. These factories created many job opportunities. These job opportunities attract many immigrants to come from all over the world come to industrialized countries. But the working conditions in the factories were terrible. The workers had to work for long hours without rest. They would work in long assembly lines where they would repeat the same work again and again. The pay wages were also terrible especially for women and workers from different ethnicity because of gender inequality and racism. Moreover, many workers died from stroke, malnutrition, stress and other kinds of diseases due to factories’ unsafe working environment. The results are industrialization are growth of economy, efficient laborers and the use of technological innovations (Kenton, 2019).

Changes in Lifestyle

Industrial revolution not only give rise to economic situation of a country but also invented many machines that help the daily lifestyles of human. Therefore, industrialization has also affected the lifestyles of human. The lifestyles of people nowadays are greatly different from those of before industrial revolutions. For example, before industrialization people had to do the house-work personally or hire a maid to do the chores. Industrialization invented many machines such as refrigerators, dish washers, washing machines, ovens and stoves reduced the time required and the amount of energy needed for the process. They are very useful that they become essential tools in everyday life. Nowadays, people spend less time on the house work they focus more on education and entertainments. However, there are also some downsides of industrialization that affects the lifestyles of people. Today, many people eat a lot of fast- foods. These foods took less time to prepare and you can eat them anywhere which made them very convenient. But fast foods are usually made from cheap ingredients and contain sodium to preserve the food. Fast foods contain many sodium, fats and cholesterol which can cause many health deficiencies such as high blood pressure, heart disease and obesity (Health Guides, 2017).

Increased Rate of Unemployment

The world population has increased greatly after industrialization erupted in the 18th century (‘World Population by Year’, 2017). The growth of population means that more people will be working hard to support their families. Thus, goods need to be produced faster. Therefore, many large factories started using a lot of workers. Many factories use a method called ‘McDonaldization’. McDonaldization is a process where the work is based on four primary concepts, efficiency, calculability, predictability and control (Crossman, 2019). In McDonaldization, the process of production is divided into many simple tasks where workers would repeat the same work again and again. Due to its simple works procedure, there is no need to hire talented workers. Therefore, workers have less value and they could be easily replaced.

Nowadays, industrialization is booming and economy is the main support of a country. The growth of industry also give rise to technological development, which led to the invention of robots. Robots are the best tool to produce goods in the most efficient way since they do not get tired or injured. Robots may have technological errors but they are useful in areas where the work environments might be harmful or dangerous for human workers such as chemicals, high temperature and radioactive waves. Moreover, robots do not complain about long working hours, low pay wages and factories can throw them away or repair them if there is an error in their functions unlike workers where companies should pay compensation if someone got injured. Many factories begin to use robots in large scale production (Shewan, 2017) Nowadays, robots are also capable of replacing workers in service centers and white –collar works (Freshair, 2018). Therefore, increased rate of world population and development of machines cause less job opportunities for workers.

Effects on Environment

In addition, technology has grown drastically by industrial revolution. The development of technology give rise to many innovations such as robots and machines to produce goods faster, develop new vaccines to cure diseases and vehicles to transport both goods and humans. These new innovations required resources to operate. Due to the increasing of the world population, resources are depleting much faster. Factories’ residues can cause environmental problems and serious diseases.

Air Pollution

Industries get the energy required to operate from burning natural resources such as coal, oil and gas. But burning large amounts of fossil fuels release lots of gases and chemicals into the air which reduce the air quality. Air pollution can cause serious diseases such as lung cancer, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) (Honeywell, 2017). Environmental problems such as global warming, climate changes, acid rains and depletion of ozone are also caused by air pollution.

Water Pollution

Some residues produced from industries contain chemicals. These toxins can end up in local water supplies in the form of gas, liquid or solid; decreasing the amount of fresh water available. Moreover, some wastes are often dump into the nearby lakes and streams which flow into river and into the sea. This action not only destroy the sea but also cause harm to the creatures living in it.

Conclusion

Although the evolution of industry has contributed a lot in developing lifestyles of people, replacing a lot of man power with machines and robots has caused the poor labor workers to lose their jobs. Thus, making their lives more miserable because these laborers have limited education and money. They could only depend on their physical abilities to survive. If they were to be replaced there would be no place for them to work to survive. Industrialization not only produce many waste products but also deplete many natural resources. These may cause the risk of destroying the source of natural resources. The society cannot afford such possibilities.

References

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