Industrialization After the Civil War
Introduce your paper with your previously crafted thesis statement.
After the Civil War, the United States became a much-industrialized society. The country was characterized by several industrial developments. More investments were put on establishing industries that could facilitate the production capacity of the country. Key policies were laid to drive the growth of industries in many of the sectors leading to the growth of industrialization in the country. These developments took place amidst an agrarian society that characterized America before the civil war. Before the civil war, many investments were made in agriculture with farming being a major economic activity for the American people. However, this affected the growth of the economy as the American population shot up (Rees, 2008).
The nation resorted to industrialization after the civil war. This saw a change in lifestyle among many Americans as more people got jobs in the industries that were established at the time. As the United States became much industrialized, the social lives of the Americans changed for more people were concentrated where the industries were located resulting in the emergence of metropolitan dwellings and cities. This further led to other socioeconomic changes like the emergence of capitalism in the U.S. The 1865-1920 industrialization improved American life in many ways, but also created problems in the American society.
2. Identify three (3) major...
society, economy, and
politics. Consider issues such as geography,
entrepreneurship, legislative representation, etc. Explain your responses with specific examples and details.
A number of aspects characterized the 1865-1920 industrialization that affected the outcome of the industrialization. The first aspect was the issue of
geography and agriculture. Industrialization in the United States brought many changes in agriculture and the role of agriculture in the economy. The growth of industrialization led to the establishment of industries that attracted many people who entirely depended on agriculture. Industrialization changed the way farming and livestock keeping was done. This field was left for the large-scale farmers since many people fled the countryside into the urban centers to work in the established industry. A notable shift in the growth of the economy from high dependence on agricultural products into high dependence on industrial products was evident (Rees, 2008).
Industrialization left agriculture in the hands of the owners of large farms, who enjoyed economies of scale, and were able to have large produce that would be taken to the industries. In addition, industrialization led to the development of equipments that enabled farming to be commercialized. It led to the development of large-scale farming, where large tracks of
land would be farmed. Majority of the small-scale farmers moved to the cities searching for jobs in the industries leaving the large tracts of land that were extremely productive.
The second key aspect of industrialization was settlement patterns of the Americans. Industrialization led to major changes in the settlement patterns, and the way of life of the Americans. New settlement patterns began to take the form as new industries were put in place. For instance, more people from the villages began to consider moving to the urban centers to access jobs offered by the established industries. The jobs in the industries seemed to pay more, and offered an opportunity to those who lacked jobs. Besides, such jobs could bolster anyone into a better
socioeconomic status that many village dwellers cared less in attaining it (Vapnek, 2009).
A new settlement pattern was established as the places where the industries were located had concentrated population. This led to the growth of urban centers since the people who were gathered in the different places had common needs. Urban centers…
