Industrialization after the Civil War Monyea Anthony Professor Adam McBride History 105: Contemporary U.S. History August 3, 2014

The industrialization after the civil war had affected American in different ways. Industrialization influenced the U.S society by the number of employed children under the age of 15 were increasing when children were suppose to be getting an education but instead are working underage. The steel and oil industries fueled the growth of the American economy. U.S. politics were influenced by the industrialization by creating laws that prohibited many immigrants from obtaining their freedom and rights.

The three major aspects that influenced U.S. society, economy, and politics during the industrialization were first the types of employment of geographical region. Workers in the south primarily farmed. The women in both the rural and urban areas engaged in paid labor inside and outside the homes. There work was occupied with the work they traditionally performed on the farms before the industrialization. The south had little to none manufacturing capability in which cotton was one of the most valuable exports in the south. The north was already exposed to the industry and was highly industrialized. The pace of the working industry of northern workers was much faster than the pace of southern workers.

Another aspect that influenced U.S. society economy and politics during the industrialization was the industrial tycoon entrepreneurs of the late 19th and early 20th century. Andrew Carnegie was one of the wealthiest self made steel tycoons of the 19th century. Carnegie started off as a poor factory worker working a series of railroad jobs. When he first moved to the U.S with his family he settled in Allegheny, Pennsylvania where he had his first factory job earning $1.20 a week. Later in the years Carnegie worked in the railroad industry in which he learned about the railroad industry and about general business. He was later promoted to a superintendent. Carnegie then merged in working for the steel industry. Carnegie started his own business which was called the Carnegie Steel Company. The business revolutionized steel production in the United States. Later on in the years, Carnegie sold his company to J.P. Morgan for over $400 million. The next industrial tycoon entrepreneur of the late 19th and 20th century was Henry Ford. Henry Ford was the first to introduce the assembly line format production for the automobile. Ford created Model T car in 1908 and went on to develop the assembly line mode of production which revolutionized the industry. Ford started of working on the farm at the age of 13 and worked as an apprentice as a mechanist in Detroit. Later in the years in 1903, Henry Ford established the Ford Motor Company. He then introduced the Model T in 1908 which posted 100 percent gains. In 1914 is when Ford sponsored the development of the moving assembly line of mass production. He was the first to introduce the $5 per day wage which was a method of keeping the best workers loyal to the company. The last industrial tycoon entrepreneur was John Rockefeller. Rockefeller was the head of the standard oil company and one of the world’s richest men. He used his well earned fortune to fund ongoing philanthropic causes. John Rockefeller was born and raised in New York where he built his first oil refinery near Cleveland and in 1870 incorporated the Standard Oil Company. The Standard Oil Company was a dominating force in the American economy that propelled its founder to become the world’s richest man. By the 1880’s his company had a net worth of $55 million. In the same year, states began to enact antimonopoly legislation paving the way for the 1800 passage of the Sherman Antitrust Act. In the later years, John started a charity in which he donated more than $530 million to various causes. His money helped pay for the creation of the University of Chicago as well as the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research (later named Rockefeller University) in New York, as well as the Rockefeller Foundation.

The final major aspect that influenced U.S. society, economy, and politics during the industrialization was the legislation laws. Reformers from the local and state legislation passed many laws to help the poor. Much of the laws provided tenement housing inspection, playgrounds, and other improvements of the life in the slums. The reform governments expanded public education and forced employers to protect workers against fires and dangerous machinery in factories. The first president in 1901, Theodore Roosevelt a liberal republican helped laborers in a strike against employees. In 1902 the United Mine workers struck for better wages and working conditions. Roosevelt asked the miners and the mine owners to settle their differences through arbitration, but the mine owners refused. Roosevelt to have the army take over the mines, and that’s when the owners gave in and reached a compromise with the miners. There were many groups that were affected by the Industrialization. The first group was under age working children. During the industrialization, some children in the US and in Britain were forced to go to work and support their families. Instead of going to school, these children missed out on their education working long hours in coal mines or factories for low wages. The children working the in workplace were treated poorly not being provided with enough food they needed and being beaten for minor errors in the workplace. As stated in the first paragraph, the type of work was based upon geographical region. Southern workers farmed and the Northern workers were already exposed to the industry. Another group that was affected by the Industrialization was the women working the assembly line in the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory. The fire at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory killed over145 workers. The cause of deaths could have been prevented had the company followed safety procedures and didn’t neglect the safety guidelines and locked doors within the factory building. The factory was located in Manhattan NY employing young immigrant women who worked in a cramped space lines of sewing machines. Nearly all the workers were teenage girls who barely spoke English working 12hours every day. On March 25, a Saturday afternoon, there were 600 workers at the factory when a fire began in a rag bin. The manager attempted to use the fire hose to extinguish it, but was unsuccessful, as the hose was rotted and its valve was rusted shut. As the fire grew, panic ensued. The young workers tried to exit the building by the elevator but it could hold only 12 people and the operator was able to make just four trips back and forth before it broke down amid the heat and flames. In a desperate attempt to escape the fire, the girls left behind waiting for the elevator plunged down the shaft to their deaths. The girls who fled via the stairwells also met awful demises when they found a locked door at the bottom of the stairs, many were burned alive. 145 of the young women were killed in the fire. Next was the Chinese Immigration. The Chinese immigrants worked in difficult working conditions and wanted a shortened workday and a shortened wage increase. The Chinese immigrants came to the western US (California) to help build railroads. The railroad work consisted of difficult working conditions, extreme physical labor, workers decided to strike. The workers wanted a wage increase of $40 monthly. They also wanted a shortened workday and were tired of working long hours. The management reacted to the strike by cutting off workers food rations and gave out fines. They also threatened workers with replacement by former slaves.

The last group that was affected by the industrialization was Black Entrepreneurship. Many white owned businesses felt threatened of the newly owned black businesses. In 1892, three African American men Tom Moss, Calvin McDowell, and Will Stewart set up a grocery store in Memphis. Their brand new business drew customers away from a white owned store in neighborhood and the white store owner and his supporters, clashes with the three men on a few occasions. Moss and the others one night guarded their store against attack and ended up shooting several of the white vandals. They were arrested and brought to jail, but they didn't have a chance to defend themselves against the charges and a lynch mob took them from their cells and murdered them. They didn’t get the chance to testify to what really happened.

There were many affects of industrialization of working Americans. The first affect was many Americans worked in sweatshops for as little as 25cents a day. They were long working hours for these Americans nonstop and no wage increased was given to these workers. No laws had prevented businesses for hiring 7year old children to work in coal mines or factories. Children at that time could work at the age of 7 working in poor labor and working conditions without any obligations. There were also tough working conditions. Industries such as the cotton trade were particularly hard for workers to endure long hours of labor. The nature of the work being done meant that the workplace had to be very hot, steam engines contributing further to the heat in this and other industries. Machinery was not always fenced off and workers would be exposed to the moving parts of the machines whilst they worked. Children were often employed to move between these dangerous machines as they were small enough to fit between tightly packed machinery. This led to them being placed in a great deal of danger and mortality (death rates) was quite high in factories. Living conditions were the worst for people during the Industrialization. Many people lived in “poorhouses” which was created by the government. They were confined to a room as inmates in prison and worked every day. They were also separated from their family and love ones. Americans also suffered from poor public health. Many Americans experienced overcrowding, poor sanitation, and medieval medical remedies all contributed to poor public health. In Manchester, roads were muddy and lacked sidewalks. Houses were built touching each other, leaving no room for ventilation. Homes lacked toilets and sewage systems, and as a result, drinking water sources, such as wells, were frequently contaminated with disease typhoid, and influenza ravaged through new industrial towns, especially in poor working-class neighborhoods.

References
Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. (n.d.).History.com. Retrieved August 3, 2014, from http://www.history.com/topics/triangle-shirtwaist-fire
History of the United StatesIndustrialization and reform (1870-1916). (n.d.). History of the United States, Industrialization and reform. Retrieved August 3, 2014, from http://www.theusaonline.com/history/indus
NWHM Exhibit: A History of Women in Industry. (n.d.). NWHM Exhibit: A History of Women in Industry. Retrieved August 3, 2014, from https://www.nwhm.org/online-exhibits/industry/1.htm
Modern World History. (2014, August 3). Untitled Document. Retrieved August 3, 2014, from http://webs.bcp.org/sites/vcleary/ModernWorldHistoryTextbook/IndustrialRevolution/IREffects.html