How Did Industrialization Impact Modern Day America

In the late 1700s, America went through major changes that greatly impacted the way people lived. This was a period of time where new businesses were emerging, technologies were advancing and the cities were becoming more prominent- this period of time from 1750 to 1914 was known as the Industrial Revolution. During this revolution, America went through major changes and the people had to learn to adapt to their new surroundings expeditiously. These advances include different working conditions, living conditions, the urbanization, public health and life expectancy, child labor, working class families and the role of women, the emerging middle class and wealth and income. Some of the mentioned developments were harsh and unacceptable at the time, but all led the way to the modern day America. Industrialization greatly impacted the way Americans lived in the eighteenth and nineteenth century and immensely changed the course of modern day history. Without the

Before Industrialization, more than eighty percent of people lived in the rural areas. As people moved from the country, small towns quickly became large cities. By 1850, more people lived in cities than in rural areas. By 1920, the majority of Americans lived in cities (Hobsbawm, Industry and Empire 159). Both London and Manchester grew rapidly during this time period. Soon there were railroads connecting city to city and Manchester quickly became the textile capital of the world. In 1771, the population grew to twenty-two thousand. Over the next fifty years, Manchester had expanded to one hundred-eighty thousand. Many of these residents were immigrants from Ireland, reaching roughly twenty-five percent of Manchesters population (Thompson 429). Even though there was growth and wealth in Industrialization, there were a stew of negative effects. The main one being working class neighborhoods were crowded, dirty and