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Example Of Capitalism And Industrialization In The United States

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Throughout history we’ve seen political and economical forces work in tandem with each other. Whether it be communism and socialism, imperialism and nationalism, etc. great impacts on the world have been the result. The two forces that I chose for examine in this essay are Capitalism and Industrialization. What is capitalism and industrialization? Capitalism is a type of economic and political system where business is controlled by private owners, rather than be regulated by the government, and Industrialization is the transition from an agrarian society to an industrial one, with improvements in technology and industry. Capitalism and Industrialization are two forces that have shown a high amount of synergy throughout history. With the rise …show more content…
In the early 1900s, the demand for industrial products was at an all-time high, and to meet this demand a new form of manufacturing had to be implemented. Maybe the most famous example of this was the development of the Model T and the assembly line by capitalist Henry Ford. Prior to the emergence of Ford and mass production, the vehicle was only seen as a “rich man’s toy” and not readily available to the average consumer. Henry Ford however sought to normalize the automobile making it affordable for the common man, “We wanted to make a car so cheap that every family in the United States could afford to have one. So we worked morning, noon, and night, until our muscles ached and our nerves were so ragged…” This harkens back to the idea of the American dream I mentioned earlier. Ford worked hard as he said “morning, noon, and night” to create his vision, and without an industrialized America at the time to create his assembly line and enact mass production, his capitalist dream would have never come true. Also, the idea of a normalized vehicle for the everyday person would still be a pipe dream, and the most common mode of transportation in America may not have …show more content…
The emergence of capitalism began in Western Europe before the early modern period, then began to take shape in the countries of North Western Europe. Capitalism then diffused to other countries around the world, including the US. An example of industrialization and capitalism working in tandem was the rapid reconstruction of western Germany’s economy after WWII. Around the end of World War II, Europe’s economy was in shambles, “many of the continent's residents heated their homes with coal, cooled their food with ice, and lacked even rudimentary forms of indoor plumbing.” So the living conditions of this population was not ideal. In west Germany, however, an economic reform began to take place. They introduced “Rhine Capitalism”, which combined aspects of capitalism and some social policies to create a free market in contrast to the former Nazi authoritarian regime. Industrial production saw a massive boom after this occurrence, “In June 1948 the bizonal index of industrial production was at only 51 percent of its 1936 level; by December the index had risen to 78 percent. In other words, industrial production had increased by more than 50 percent.” This increase was the beginning of the reconstruction of western Germany’s economy as citizens saw their standard of living improve and employment opportunities rise. The revitalization of western Germany’s economy, and

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