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How Successful Was The Growth Of Industry In The 19th Century

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During the late nineteenth century, the United States was undergoing rapid growth in all aspects of life. This growth would equip America with certain conditions and establishments that would be maintained to the present. At the time when the country was in crisis during the Civil War, business firms were rather small and owned by small families, but the start of the 1870s marked a time of large scale enterprises owned by powerful business leaders. Advancements in technology and the establishment of large corporations were just a few changes that created a new, expanding nation. With the invention of the first light bulb by Thomas Edison, factories and manufacturing became more popular to all Americans. Industry was beginning to rise and …show more content…

There was a giant increase in the production of goods; in 1865, there was $2 billion dollars worth in annual production, but in 1900, that amount went up to over $13 billion! Technology and amazing revolutions were the reason behind this economic and national growth. Major innovations such as the light bulb provided light all night long, allowing workers to work even longer hours at night. This new light source later replaced coal as a means of power, and at the same time, revolutionized both industry and urban life. The transcontinental railroad was another major reactant in the growth of industry. Centered around the steel industry, it began rising above the rest and triumphed in the new, growing society. Steel was used to do many things like build railroads that connected city to city. It allowed for trains to transport shipped goods from manufacturers to local towns. The transcontinental railroad, as well as communication like the telephone, made it possible for industry to move westward. Before this “gilded age”, a term created by Mark Twain, most of the factories and industry of America was centered around the northeastern coast. Now, railroads allowed for all kinds of industry to

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At the onset of the late 19th century, the US experienced an influx of new industries, some of which were dominated by a single corporation. With the invention of the Bessemer process, the industries of steel, oil, and railroads boomed. These industries came to be dominated by the companies of industrialists such as Andrew Carnegie, John Rockefeller, and Cornelius Vanderbilt, respectively. America’s Industrial Revolution also spurred on the invention of electricity and other items that enhanced transportation and communication, which ushered in a new era of change for the US. During the Gilded Age, industry affected the social, economic, and political atmospheres through the monopolization of industries, the rise of Social Darwinism, and the

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The expanding West provided new sources of raw materials such as timber and iron ore. Industry relied on a large supply of workers in the nation’s growing cities. The railroad brought the West closer to the settled East. Trains headed

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In his subheading, “The Spirit of Innovation”, Eric Foner argues that the advancements in technology contributed to the industrial revolution of the United States in the late 1800s. The author indicates that scientific innovations, including electricity and the light bulb, “helped to establish entirely new industries that transformed …economic activity” (Foner, 608). Additionally, he pointed out how inventors like Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla developed technology that would facilitate the urban growth and better daily life. Two of these technologies were the electric motor and the generator, which paved the way for the automatization of production means. Foner also explains that cities and industries were now allowed to grow in a more flexible

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