Industrialization After the Civil War: Economy and Society

Introduction

The United States economy grew to unprecedented levels — and very quickly — after the American Civil War. This economic and industrial growth comprised a number of causative factors such as technological innovation, westward expansion, and immigration, all of which witnessed tremendous development over the years. American economic and industrial growth was a kind of mixed blessing: it raised the living standard of some Americans, made certain goods easily accessible, and helped the United States become a world military and economic power. At the same time, however, these same forces increased the gap between the rich and the poor, intensified and spread political corruption at different levels of government, and created a lasting legacy of environmental destruction (Shultz, 2014).

This paper contends that industrialization was, in effect, nothing more than an abolition of slavery and the declaration of a new economic era in America. Replacing slavery with industrialization was a natural economic outcome when considering three aspects of that transformation: the way it affected the economy (which experienced rapid development in the late 19th century but became more uneven); severe and volatile vulnerability to financial panics; and its effects on citizens, where newly freed Black Americans encountered a system described by historian Oshinsky (1997) as being worse than slavery. Oshinsky contended that emancipation had ended slavery but failed to destroy the very assumptions on which slavery was based (Oshinsky, 1997). He also cast aspersions on the effect industrialization had on the political system, which later became prone to high rates of corruption — from Teapot Dome to Crédit Mobilier — until, in the words of Richard Hofstadter, the Senate became so filled with business moguls that it was popularly referred to as the "Millionaires' Club" (Hofstadter, 1989).

Effect on the Economy

The years after the Civil War were a mixture of the best and worst of times. In the quarter century following the war, America's economy grew at an unprecedented rate. Between 1870 and 1920, the number of United States workers in manufacturing rose by almost 450%, climbing from 2.5 million to 11.2 million. This created room for immigrants to fill labor demands, and during that same period approximately 27.5 million immigrants migrated to the United States. To support the burgeoning population, farmers increased the number of acres under cultivation by a remarkable 234% (Shultz, 2014). The explosive economic growth witnessed in America was fueled by influential legislation passed during and after the Civil War. Among the most important were the Homestead Act of 1862, through which the government granted small parcels of public land to farmers, and the Pacific Railway Acts, through which the federal government granted public lands to private corporations to encourage the construction of a transcontinental railroad (Campbell, 1999).

With rapid economic growth, builders depended on new technologies to tackle the challenges of having large numbers of people living and working in concentrated areas, as well as moving raw materials, finished products, and human resources. Elevated trains, subways, and streetcars provided means of mass transportation. Elevators and steel construction made it possible to build suspension bridges like the Brooklyn Bridge and skyscrapers such as New York City's Flatiron Building. Cities became illuminated — and thus safer — through gas and electric lighting. New water and sewage systems were built by city officials to address growing public health challenges (Shultz, 2014; Campbell, 1999).

Effect on the Citizenry

Nonetheless, not all strata of society shared equally in growth and prosperity. Wealth was concentrated at the top, while the separation between the classes remained stark. The contrast between the rich and the poor was clearly visible in public photographs of Manhattan's Lower East Side, where claustrophobic alleys separated unsafe tenement buildings, crowded and unsanitary living conditions defined daily life, and the misery of the working class stood in sharp relief against the affluence of industrial capitalists (Shultz, 2014).

Migration

Drawn by economic prospects, a labor force eager for opportunity came to cities from rural regions of the United States, Asia, Latin America, and Europe. Millions of immigrants from Canada, China, Mexico, Southern and Eastern Europe, and Scandinavia settled across the country, with most concentrating in the Northeast. Most of these immigrants hoped to acquire land, but — lacking capital — typically took the first available job they could find. At best, many of these workers earned only enough to send remittances to the families they had left behind or to eventually bring those families over to join them (Campbell, 1999).

Urbanization

American society witnessed immense industrial expansion in the years following the Civil War. The country became increasingly urbanized: cities grew more populous and infrastructure expanded to accommodate them. Mass immigration fueled this population growth, which continued into the early decades of the 20th century. The hopes these immigrants carried were, however, often undermined by legalized discrimination against African Americans in the South. Meanwhile, massive urbanization and industrialization reshaped how people spent their leisure time (Karson, 1958; Campbell, 1999).

Urbanization and industrialization grew together in a mutually reinforcing cycle. Cities offered new companies a sufficient supply of workers, as well as the means to transport raw materials and access markets for finished goods. In turn, as companies grew and sought more workers, city populations expanded through continued immigration (Campbell, 1999).

Housing construction, however, could not keep pace with the demands of the rapidly growing population. Most urban dwellings were multifamily buildings called tenements, affordable only to working-class families and immigrants who could manage some rent. Yet these tenements were poorly maintained, and cities soon accumulated vast, deteriorating slums. Such poor, overcrowded neighborhoods saw sharp increases in crime rates. On the other side, urbanization also encouraged new technologies in architecture, transportation, sanitation, and utilities, while cities opened up new economic and social opportunities (Shultz, 2014).

Human Rights

Laborers were forced to work long hours under harsh conditions for low wages. Over time, workers organized sufficiently to stage protests and strikes in order to voice their grievances. These actions continued from the late 19th century into the early 20th century, and the country responded with a mixture of reform and outright repression. Several groups advocated for better treatment of workers, but women's organizations stood out among them: they fought to end child labor, establish minimum wages, and improve health and safety conditions in the workplace (Oshinsky, 1997).

Farmers

Industrialization affected farmers adversely as America transitioned from an agrarian economy to one driven by industry (Shultz, 2014). As the Civil War ended and the industrial revolution took hold, slavery was banned and farmers were required to till their soil themselves, often without the economic supports that had previously sustained plantation-based agriculture.

Conclusion

The industrial revolution affected the nation in all aspects — government, the people, and the general way of life. Industrialization brought both positive and negative effects on American society. On the positive side, without industrialization, America would not have become the industrial hub it is today. The primary negative outcome was the profound disparity in how the wealth and growth generated by industrialization were distributed across the population.