United States History Industrialization (Late 1800s-Early 1900s)

University:
Concordia University Wisconsin
Course:
HIST 1215 | American Civilization II
Academic year:

2021
Views:

349

Pages:

2
Author:

Jarrett Richard

Industrialization (late 1800s-early 1900s) These were the main reasons (causes) for industrial growth in the late 1800s: ● The US population was increasing rapidly and was helped by the agricultural revolution. Thus, it produced more food for more people and led to an increase in population. ● The economy got stronger as the demands for products increased. ● Advances in transportation: The canal system was built first, then, the railroads and automobiles. (These were especially important for trade.) ● Advances in communication: The telegraph was invented first, then the telephone enabled long distance communications faster and easier. ● New sources of energy: such as oil and electricity made new kinds of factory production possible. ● The rise of corporations: huge groups of companies with lots of money; some became monopolies. ● The government’s open immigration policy, which fed the industry's need for labor. Two important IDEAS associated with industrialization were: ● Laissez-faire capitalism: The idea that the government should not interfere in business. In other words, the government shouldn’t make a lot of regulations (rules) for businesses to follow. This idea allowed businesses to pretty much do whatever they wanted; including forming monopolies, using child labor, giving workers low pay and dangerous conditions, and selling unsafe food and medicine to the public. ● Social Darwinism: also known as “survival of the fittest.” This idea said that the rich were rich because they deserved to be rich (they were the “fittest”), while the poor were blamed for being poor (it was their own fault). Social Darwinism was used to justify large economic inequalities (big differences between rich and poor). ● One important result of Laissez-faire was the growth of monopolies and trusts and led by business leaders such as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller. Some people called these business leaders robber barons because of their unfair business practices. ● Workers who suffered during industrialization eventually formed labor unions: organizations of workers who unite in order to have more power to fight the bosses. This led to strikes and violence. (Examples: the Railroad Strike of 1877, the Haymarket Riot, the Homestead Strike, and the Pullman Strike.) ● The Populist Party rose in the 1890s mainly to protect the interests of farmers who were economically hurt by the railroad monopolies and corrupted bank practices. Most industrial workers were “new immigrants” (people from Southern and Eastern Europe). They were culturally different from “old immigrants” (mostly people from Northern and Western Europe), and suffered a high amount of nativism (prejudice against immigrants). The worst example of anti-immigrant was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which outlawed all immigration from China for reasons of race.