Assignment 1.2: Industrialization After the Civil War Final Paper

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Running head: INDUSTRIALIZATION 1

INDUSTRIALIZATION 7

Assignment 1.1: Industrialization After the Civil War Thesis and Outline

Gregory Best

Dr. Donna Reeves

HIS 105

7/23/2017

Industrialization after the Civil War

1. Introduction

Thesis Statement: The industrialization that took place from 1865 to 1920 affected the lives

of Americans socially, politically, and economically.

2. Industrialization in America between 1865 and 1920

a. Major aspects of Industrialization

I. Society

· Companies and transport networks were being constructed.

· Railway lines distributed commodities to different areas (Rees, 2015).

· Society worked in factories to earn a living

· People migrated from the South to plantation areas

II. Economy

· Industrialized regions witnessed rapid economic growth

· The economy transformed the American society into an urban industrial nation

· Increased machine productivity improved standard of living (Rees, 2015).

· Employment opportunities for Americans increased, resulting in increase in standards of living

III. Political

· Federal, state, and local politicians awarded land grants and government contracts to their cronies (Rees, 2015).

· Capitalism increased corruption since business persons lobbied for their agendas in politics

· There was massive increase in activism as the need to reduce the gap between rich and poor people became a major agenda

b. Specific Groups that were affected by industrialization

I. Middle and Low-Class individuals

· There was an increase in middle class population as experts in different fields emerged and were hired in factories (Rodden, 2011).

· Labor union groups also emerged to fight for the rights of poor and unskilled workers who served in factories for low wages and under poor working conditions

II. African-Americans

· Racial segregation against African-Americans increased since they were not beneficiaries of the industrialization (Rodden, 2011).

· Southern states failed to increase the wages for African-American laborers, thereby widening income inequality between whites and blacks

III. Women

· Feminist groups emerged as more women became educated and assumed roles that were traditionally reserved for men

· Women also assumed managerial roles while those who were uneducated worked mainly in factories under low wages.

IV. Rural Agriculturalists

· Physical labor decreased, thus reducing the level of productivity of farming

· Rural farmers also complained of lack of government regulations to deal with unfair competition from factories

V. Native Americans

· Native Americans complained that their lands were taken away by industrialists and plantation farmers

· Complains about the urbanization push as their lands were taken away posed challenges related to national unity

c. Ways in Which Industrialization Affected the Lives of Average working Americans

I. Wages

· some workers were subjected to low wages, thus increasing poverty levels

II. Housing

· Immigration and landlessness resulted in the emergence of housing crisis as more and more Americans were rendered landless due to industrial expansions

III. Living Conditions

· Massive immigration in search for employment opportunities resulted in emergence of slums and shanty towns

· High income inequality widened the gap between the rich and the poor

IV. Urbanization

· Areas where factories were established improved in terms of infrastructures (Chudacoff, Smith & Baldwin, 2016).

· Social facilities were also built to meet the needs of surging populations

· This resulted in urbanization

V. Legal Representation

· Emergence of labor unions resulted in the need for legal representation

References

Chudacoff, H. P., Smith, J., & Baldwin, P. (2016). The evolution of American urban society.

London: Routledge.

Rees, J. (2015). Industrialization and the transformation of American life: a brief

introduction. London: Routledge.

Rodden, J. (2011). The long shadow of the Industrial Revolution: Political geography and the

representation of the left. Historical, political and economic development in Western

Europe: Recent advances in comparative politics. Madrid.