The industrial revolution took place due to an agricultural revolution that occurred because of an increasing population. The introduction of enclosed farming meant that the poorer people lost out and travelled to towns to seek work. The domestic system meant that many people worked from home, spinning and weaving cotton brought in from North America. They were paid a fraction of the cost that it was eventually sold for. Entrepreneurs started to create new inventions that would speed up the process of spinning and weaving meaning more cotton could be produced and exported.
The industrial revolution affected the average workers both positively and negatively. With the invention of new machinery and new methods of transportation, the industrial revolution provides people with jobs and dwelling. However the working class still lived in poor condition due to the dangerous in factories and the polluted environment in the slum. The positive effect of the industrial revolution is shown in document 4 and 8 which reminded people of the “comforts and conveniences” that the industrial revolution brought to them. The use of machinery and mass production provided people with better clothing, cheaper housing and living necessity.
With the promise of learning a trade and becoming more wealthy a new class of people was appearing in the cities, the middle class. With the change in the economics of the cities, more and more people moved into the cities to begin jobs in the factories, which was also made easier by the new railroads. People flocked to the more urban areas in order to find easier jobs and to make more money than they had been by farming. The better easier life seemed to be withine the grasps of those who wanted to make a living and raise their families with the raise of the industrial
The factory system affected American life in many ways. First, it helped the American economy grow because goods were cheaper, more people could buy them. As people bought more, the factories needed more workers and more workers meant more people who were earning money to buy things. Second, the factory system contributed to the growth of cities. A single factory might hire thousands of workers.
From the time period of 1870 to 1900 the growth of big businesses in the United States had a major impact on the economy, politics, and the response of Americans of Americans to these changes. These businesses grew significantly in number, size, and influence and had an ever-lasting effect on Americans and their surrounding community. Industry and its new technologies have had an amazing impact on reducing the costs of the goods necessary to life, such as food prices, fuel and lighting prices, and the cost of living (Document A). The standard of living of most Americans should have increased, as more wages would be left over to spend on luxuries. Aware of the extra-money available to working families, the different pieces of a Big Business have acted in such a way to suck that extra-money from the poor families.
The technological advancements led to the emergence of factories and an exploding population surrounding them. Many advantages were gained during the Industrial Revolution, but it also had profound consequences on society. Two major social consequences included urbanization and child labor. During the Industrial Revolution there was an immense demand for cheap, unskilled labor. Families moved from rural areas to the newly industrialized cities to find work.
These early ideas made it possible for the different views of the rich and working class to have their own set representation as needed when capitalism, or free market enterprise, and common wealth made its way into American economy. Free market enterprise was a way for the artisans, or skilled workers, to make money by producing and selling their products. As technology advanced and more inventions were being created there also came better, cheaper, and faster ways of producing mass amounts of the same products. Factories and new means of transportation made it possible for industrialization to make a rise and excel American economy. While business was great for the owners of these companies and those who could afford better living it was a completely different story for the factory workers and artisans.
Steam trains and train tracks were being built to expand access across the United States. We also saw the production and use of steam boats which were used to transport people and products across the county which had vastly changed from the horse and buggy days (Annenberg 2013). The two most significant social consequences of this time were living conditions and labor laws. The living conditions were poor. Most people who worked in the factories lived in the factories which had little living space, lack of proper ventilation and lack of proper hygiene (Wikipedia).
One of them was installment buying. Installment buying is the action of buying products by promising to pay small regular amounts over a period of time. It made it possible for people to buy more products such as radios and television, even if they weren’t rich. This didn’t only benefit the people it also benefitted the companies. People were buying more goods they were earning more money.
The American Industrial Revolution changed many lives of many American during the 1800’s and early 1900’s. She was becoming one of the most important industrial nations during this period through aggressive political negotiations, economical and military power. Americans were discovering better ways of manufacture of goods, making transportation more reliable and creating communication more accessible to the general public. The population began to grow at a rapid rate and technological advances promoted the growth of industries in rural areas throughout the US. New technologies allowed business owners to reduce labor and the hours in the movement of materials from one point to the other.