Industrial Capitalism in the U.S.

¶ … Industrial Capitalism in the U.S.

The nature of business and society was dramatically altered by the development and maintenance of capitalism here in the United States and abroad. After centuries of living within a purely agricultural sphere, industry was brought to American cities in full force through the driving elements of industrial capitalism. What resulted was an entire new type of workforce, one which worked within the context of the factory structure, and not the family owned business structure. This style of business only expanded as capitalism brought wealth and power to businesses working within the United States. Now, the modern American family structure has been taken from its original roots and permanently transformed into a single, nuclear family unit where individualism and participation within the contemporary capitalist structure flourish. Modern industrial capitalism evolved the American familial structure from an extended one within an agricultural context to a single, nuclear familial structure within a typically urban industrial environment.

The development and maintenance of modern industrial capitalism in the U.S. has affected the family structure dramatically. Essentially, the entire nature of regular society changed from a rural, agricultural existence to a bustling urban one within the shadow of massive buildings and factories. Thus, even the close bonds of the family changed. It evolved from a larger family structure that lived and worked together in an agriculture society. Before the modern industry was brought to the United States, small businesses run by all the members of an extended family were the primary source of employment and income throughout the United States and abroad. However, development of the modern industrial capitalist structure changed this to a more single family oriented one within the context of large urban sprawls. Factory work required long hours and was outside the context of the home. Thus, industrial capitalism moved the social and economic center out of the household. Families thus often split apart, leaving extended families broken up into smaller nuclear family households.

Essentially, parenting styles changed dramatically and began to allow children for relative independence vs. relative inter-dependence that was seen before the implementation of industrial capitalism. This move far from traditional agricultural-based family structures lessened the degree of inter-dependence within the family and more towards individual independence within the larger family structure. Mothers and fathers were off working in the factories, leaving them as much less a part of every element of their children's lives. This left children home alone more often, forcing them to find their own relative independence outside the realm of their parents' supervision. Additionally, when children, when required to work, would work outside the context of the home in factories, where there was less supervision from parents. Thus, there was a greater focus on individual needs and individual lives, rather than the more familial unit thinking that was so prevalent before the Industrial Revolution took place.