Samuel Slater: Turning Point Of The American Industrial Revolution

There are many events prior to the 1900s that could be construed as turning points in American history. Columbus’s discovery of America in the 1490s and the American Revolution from 1770 to 1779, for instance, are quite important in this way. However, the Industrial Revolution was a far more significant turning point. The American Industrial Revolution began around 1790 when Samuel Slater was inspired by British industrial success and brought the idea to the United States. Once it began, the Industrial Revolution did not just bring success. It created many problems for the U.S. including substandard working and living conditions, pollution, and unhealthy lifestyles for Americans. However, the improved national transportation infrastructure,

Before the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, people lived in small, rural towns, and their main job was farming. Lives were difficult for people due to inadequate incomes and starvation and diseases were common. However, lives began to change when a textile industry opened in Britain. As Britain’s economy improved with the new industrial lifestyle, Samuel Slater was inspired by the manufacturing technologies from Britain and brought them to the United States. As a result, the first United States cotton mill opened in Beverly, Massachusetts, and the American Industrial Revolution began. Slater’s mill was powered by water, and this confined industrial development to the northeast. This also improved the development of transportation systems such as railroads and canals, which strengthened trade and commerce. Not only did the nation’s transportation infrastructure improved, technological innovations also took a major part in the Industrial Revolution. Improvements in technology showed when Robert Fulton created the steamboat service on the Hudson River, Samuel F. B. Morse invented the telegraph, and Elias Howe designed the sewing machine. The Civil War had a huge impact on the American Industrial Revolution, and the country expanded and became rich in natural resources. The Industrial Revolution changed the lives of many Americans because transportation

The Industrial Revolution increased industrial growth in the United States by fueling economies and improving world trade. In the 1830s, the Lowell mill women organized and went on a strike to fight for their working rights, and this led to the first union of working women in America. These women opened a textile factory in Lowell, Massachusetts, and it was successful for them to open their own factory due to the widely spread idea of women not being able to work. Despite the poor working conditions, the women continued to fight for themselves by organizing the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association and other protests to reduce the working hours, which succeeded. The women working together showed that the women did not tolerate the injustice and hostile attitudes toward females, and they were fearless to fight against those beliefs. The Industrial Revolution also had an impact on the social classes. It created a new middle class, and this class consisted of businessmen, factory owners, doctors, and lawyers. The men had the right to vote, and they also built factories and bought machines. The middle class grew in wealth, and it became as powerful and rich as the upper class. Once the middle class emerged, it disrupted the extreme nature of the typical American social class system. Gone were the days when the gap between the wealthy and the poor was wider than is healthy for the