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Civil War Immigration Analysis

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In the years following the Civil War, America saw a boom in immigration that helped to shape its future as well its major cities. This increase in immigration coincided with the reconstruction of the south, as America began to undergo a shift from a more rural agrarian society to a more industrial based economy. This economic shift lead to large cities forming in and around centers of industry and manufacturing. This would eventually lead to the era known as the industrial revolution. In the time leading up to the industrial revolution in America, most of the populace grew up in towns that were connected by horse travel or waterways. This required most communities to be self-sufficient for food, shelter, clothes, and other desired goods. …show more content…

Correlation between industrialization and immigration, along with innovation and natural resources, lead to growth in wealth and manufacturing in America at a rapid pace. This correlation lead to the expansion of highways and railways that furthered expansion west along with strides in public education and social reform (Carpenter 30). Due to mass immigration and industrialization, major changes were required in the organization of the economy and the structure of employment (creating the position of middle management, for example). Moving goods from plants to consumers also required an expansion in transportation and a supportive institutional structure for the expansion of business, and an increasingly urban society. A governmental bureaucracy was needed to build roads, manage cities, and to educate the population for employment in factories and …show more content…

Railroad and railway companies and manufactures accounted for 2 million workers by 1920, or roughly 5% of America’s total workforce. Many of those workers were first, second, or third generation immigrants (Carpenter 42). The railroad boom was so extreamly rapid, in part by a ready immigrant workforce, that by 1899 every major city was connected to a national rail line (Carpenter 4). Many immigrants were drawn to the rail industry because, even though the work was tough and conditions poor, the wages were higher than those of urban factories or docks. The creation of the railroads also pulled immigration west. Many immigrants who worked on the rail decided to remain in major cities like San Francisco vice return east to New York or

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The United States of America is one of the most technologically and industrially advanced nations in the world, but that was not always the case. At the start of the Civil War in 1861 the United States was little more than a nation of farmers, but by the time the Spanish-American war began in 1898 the country was one of the most advanced nations in the world. This begs the question, what exactly enabled the United States to be able to industrialize so quickly and efficiently? The industrial growth in the United States of America during the late 1800’s was caused by entrepreneurs, an evolving population, and government assistance.

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As shown in Document 7, the extent of railroads in 1860 was much greater than that of the extent of railroads in 1850. This rapid development of railroads can be explained by the large numbers of immigrants that poured into America from 1850-1860. The first wave of immigration brought along mostly northern and western Europeans who came to America for all sorts of reasons. The Irish were most known for working on the expansion of railroads as they resided in large urban areas, where railroads would mostly meet. This expansion allowed for major cities to be connected with

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Amid the invention and introductions to the world in the 1800’s especially in the United States, there was a demand for railroads to make traversing the Country easier. They needed a fast way to transport people and goods all around the country, especially between major cities, a great example of this being accomplished is the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. On account of the demand of railroads, there was also a demand for people to work on and build the railroads throughout the country. Railroad work opened up an abundant amount of jobs all around the country which was positive for the nation, but for the people working it was a very physically intensive job and low paying.

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Prior to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, most of the nation was made up of farmers. After the time of the industrial revolution, things started to change. For example, more people moved to cities and urban areas. Instead of most of the nation being comprised of farmers, there were more job

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The building and growth of railroads from 1865 to 1900 played a very crucial role in American society which cannot be underemphasized. Railroads brought about many important happenings that that helped in the development of America and its people, its growth commenced the transportation of goods from one place to another thus it help people carry out business transaction in a quick and reliable way as opposed to what they were accustomed to before the railroads growth which was harder to move goods from one state to another and this caused many inconveniences that resulted to the wastage of time, capital and resources. Furthermore the growth of railroads brought about new dwelling places as people wanted to settle down in places that are connected to the railroads and that made it simpler for people to commute from place to place without wasting much time and this also brought about urbanization as people became many and this contributed to the growth of the economy and develop the country at large because people where now more than ever ready to engage in dealing with each other because

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Industrialization was the centerpiece of America’s economic development and it helped America to become known as a land

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In the 18th to 19th century in Europe, the agricultural revolution made farming more efficient which allowed more people to get fed with less labor, which led to a massive population growth. With a much bigger and healthier population and new technologies and resources to take part, new factories emerged ran by capitalists and entrepreneurs. This in turn called for new ways of organizing human labor to maximize the benefits and profits from the new machines. Thus, the Industrial Revolution began and this idea slowly spread throughout Europe and eventually to the United States.

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During the industrial revolution factories flourished and for many people improved their financial status. Factories and machines that could process food faster and in larger quantities caused some jobs to be obsolete. The umemployed migrated from their rural homes along with others immigrateing from other countries in droves flooding urban areas. Most were seeking employment and the ability to provide a better life for their families,.

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The Market Revolution generated a drastic change in the United States economy and altered gender barriers while at the same time accomplishing this in a provocative manner. This economic boom occurred around the first half of the 19th Century. The economic boom was achieved by inventions such as a transcontinental railroad system which resulted in a better transportation system which improved trade and the cotton gin which sped up the rate of removing seeds from cotton fiber. However like what the great Hugo said, “The brutalities of progress are called revolutions. When they are over we realize this: that the human race has been roughly handled, but that it has advanced”.

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Before The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 could begin, something had to trigger the general public of workers. As stated in The American YAWP, “That year, mired in the stagnant economy that followed the bursting of the railroads’ financial bubble in 1873, rail lines slashed workers’ wages (even, workers complained, as they reaped enormous government subsidies and paid shareholders lucrative stock dividends).” And, just like that, history was set in motion, workers were tired of the mistreatment and the abuse, especially in the face of depression. Left with no choice, workers fought back, leading strikers on railroad traffic across the country. Considering the time, cutting off railroads was a big deal, everything relied on them such as the transportation of cargo, mail, and resources.

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In between California and the rest of the country were the Great Plains which were not heavily populated so there was no easy way of trade and transportation to the growing western territories. A group of men called the “Big Four” which consisted of Collis Huntington, Leland Stanford, Charles Crocker and Mark Hopkins, decided what the country needed was a transcontinental railroad. Their company, The Central Pacific Railroad company would hire 15,000 Chinese men to work on constructing the railroad due to the fact that they would work for less than the average American. This made transportation cheaper and quicker than ever

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jobs because they required heavy manual labor in a dangerous environment. The factories were iron and textiles were produced, needed masses of workers to operate the equipment and create products (Early American Railroads, 2008). During this time the railroads were being mass produced to accommodate the demand for more transport line. The railroads offered many jobs: driving spikes, carrying wooden ties, leveling ground for new line and laying the iron track. The opportunity to work on building new tracks throughout the US brought many Irish to work for the railroad companies (Irish Immigration to America, n.d.).

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Industrialization was a transformative component that influenced the boom of the economy in the United States’ west. Furthermore, western industrialization provided those with opportunity through various forms of labor such as mining and/or railroad work. Although these western occupations instilled notions of becoming an autonomous and opulent worker that were believed to be different from the east’s work businesses, this usually was not the case. In a majority of these industries, individuals were contracted under a wealthy owner where they endured dangerous working conditions, received poor treatment, and obtained extreme minimal wages. Additionally, there were other downsides workers underwent too such as animosity between and amid other

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New immigrants took up residence in the city’s immigrant quarters in the North, South, and West Ends and many early Irish settlers left. In the 1910s, new immigrant groups would move into places with fast growing industrial businesses. Male immigrants worked as day laborers on the streets, docks, and railroads. Railroads were created in the 19th Century. The railroad was the “engine” for economic growth and national unity in the U.S. Railroads played a large role in the development of the United States from the Industrial Revolution in the North-East (1810–1850) to the settlement of the West (1850–1890).

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This period ushered the first era of mass migration to the USA, from the 1820s too the 1880s about 15 million immigrants arrived in the USA. Many of these people chose to take up a living in agriculture in the Midwest while others flocked to the cities such as Boston, New York, Baltimore and Philadelphia, mostly to work in factories etc.. Factors in both the USA as well as Europe shaped this transition. In Europe most young men had just been discharged from military service due to the Napoleonic Wars being over, industrialization and agricultural consolidation was taking over, creating a new generation of young men that were not able to keep up with the new technologies available to employers and the Industry in general, and thus could not earn a living in the new order. In the USA demand for immigrant labor skyrocketed for two main reasons: the settlement and exploration of the Midwest due to the now finished Erie canal in 1825 and the related rise of the port of New York City.

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