ipl-logo

Samuel Slater: Turning Point Of The American Industrial Revolution

1520 Words7 Pages

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, …show more content…

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 …show more content…

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

Show More
Related
420 Words | 2 Pages

During the Industrial Revolution, many inventions were made like the mill in 1790 when Samuel Slater Brought the textile mill to the U.S. from England. He came by using a false name because England wanted to be the only one with textile mills so the tried to make sure that anyone who had knowledge of the machines could not leave. Samuel Slater found a way to using a false name got to the U.S. and found a capitalist to invest in his idea and the age of the Industrial Revolution began. Other inventors like Eli Whitney made all different types of inventions. Some of his were the Cotton Gin and interchangeable gun parts.

Read More
370 Words | 2 Pages

Oliver Evans, born near Newport Delaware 1755, was an inventor and engineer during the American Industrial Revolution. As a young teenage boy, Evans was an apprentice to a wheelwright. Other than his apprenticeship Evens had no formal training and was self-taught in mechanics and engineering. At the age of 21 Evans had created his first working machine. This machine created improved leather, wool combing cards containing 1000 teeth each reducing the amount of time it took to prepare the wool prior to spinning.

Read More
811 Words | 4 Pages

Women in New England wanted to work at textile mills so they could afford education, support their families, and it was a high-paying job opportunity. Mills became popular in the early 1800s during the Industrial Revolution. They first became a thing in the US when Francis Lowell went to England and memorized how the factories worked since stealing the plans would be illegal; he then remade them in New England. The Industrial Revolution and mills changed how daily life was lived. Before, families attended to their own needs; farmers supplied food, women tended to the livestock, sewed clothing, and did the laundry, and the children helped with any chores around the house.

Read More
1393 Words | 6 Pages

By the early 1800’s the industrial revolution had began in the United States. But it did not really start until after the civil war in   . When people began to move to cities to work in industries involving mines and factories instead of staying in the rural areas. The three major factors that permitted the united states to industrialize during the late 19th century which are an orotund source of natural resources and raw materials. Some of these were coal, oil, timber, water, ETC.

Read More
402 Words | 2 Pages

With the American Industrial Revolution in full swing, the shift in society was prevalent. In the late 19th century the growth of the industry moved Americans from rural farms to factories. This shift in mass production, made production faster and cheaper. Although the United States prevailed as the powerhouse of production, it came with some sacrifices. The factory worker was unskilled and paid a low wage.

Read More
613 Words | 3 Pages

The American Industrial Revolution was a century-long transition from a culture dependent on agriculture to a culture with a more industrial based economy. This revolution marked a major turning point in history, and almost every aspect of daily life was influenced in some way. Many factors led up to this important period in history including mercantilism enforced by the british, which led to the Embargo Act, the greater opportunities available in industry that offered better wages and hours, and the various factory labor and entrepreneurial innovation, such as in the Slater Mill. Each of these things- war, opportunities, and innovations- individually aided in the development of the American Industrial Revolution.

Read More
432 Words | 2 Pages

Following the Market Revolution the ideals of American Womanhood were reinterpreted due to many social reforms, abolitions movements, and the fight for political equality. Many social reforms took place between the American Revolution and the Civil War. The Market Revolution led to many of the social changes for women at this time. Both men and mostly single women began to find work outside of their family farms. Young girls would often find work at Lowell factories.

Read More
470 Words | 2 Pages

Some historians argue that regional differences weren't the most significant part of the antebellum era (1800-1848). However, the North had a huge industrialization rise, the South had a huge demand for slaves with the invention of the cotton gin and there was continued expansion into the West and the settlers brought their cultures. Therefore, regional differences were extremely significant to the antebellum era as they caused growing sectionalism and tensions (especially over slavery) leading to the Civil War.

Read More
526 Words | 3 Pages

Begun in England in the early second half of the 1700s, the Industrial Revolution did not reach America till the late 18th century. This revolution brought about a great many changes in American Society. The surge of new ideas, techniques and technologies that was the Industrial Revolution had a great impact on America, not only economically, as one would typically expect, but also socially, politically, and morally. The bringing of the textile mill to America by Samuel Slater was one event that had a great impact on many aspects of American society.

Read More
872 Words | 4 Pages

Period 4 (1800-1848) America became more democratic between 1800 and 1848. The United States started to develop a modern democracy. For example, the United States began a transition to a more inclusive democracy by expanding voting rights to more men, eliminating a property ownership as a requirement. This way, the vote was given to the lower class males as well as the upper class and land-owning aristocracy.

Read More
1003 Words | 5 Pages

Before the Industrial Revolution occurred, people often manufactured their own items in their homes. But then in the late 1760’s, industrialization became key. Industrialization is the introduction of new machines, and other technologies in an area. This brought many jobs, and even improved transportation, communication, and banking. It even boosted the America’s population about 57%.

Read More
849 Words | 4 Pages

During the Industrialization of the Industrial Revolution with progress came poverty. The upper class for example business tycoons/owners became wealthier and the people that worked for them the lower class for example most immigrants new to the country or country folk moving to the city became more in debt to poverty. Tycoons became money hungry and indulged themselves in money and became invested into that resulted in safety violations. The workers becoming in need for more money they worked longer and harder to make ends meets and took their children out of school to earn more money for the family. Just like always women helped build up the society during the Industrial Revolution for example Jane Addams she began the Hull House Movement in which she created a place for homeless women and children to stay while providing education and opportunity by creating employment bureau for them.

Read More
142 Words | 1 Pages

The evangelical development of the Second Great Awakening, and the progress of the Market revolution swept the nation during the first half of the nineteenth century. During the same decades, the role of women in America changed. The Market Revolution indicated the downturn of subsistence farming and the commercialization of economic life as the everyday life of Americans. For the first time, factories arose, as textiles were progressively manufactured in mills like those in Lowell, Massachusetts. Although still treated lesser to men, women attained new opportunities in the working profession as teachers, nurses, and domestic service providers as a result of the Second Great Awakening, and the Market Revolution.

Read More
478 Words | 2 Pages

Throughout American History, revolutions in transportation have affected the American society politically, socially and economically. Soon after the war of 1812, American nationalism increased which leads to a greater emphasis on national issues, the increase in power and prevalence of the national government and a growing sense of the American Identity. Railways, canals, and Turnpikes began to increase making many people employed. The era of 1830-1860 represents a shift from agrarianism to industrialism. Overall, during the transportation revolution, construction of turnpikes, roads, canals, and railroads led to the market economy expansion, an increased population in America and alternations of the physical landscape of America.

Read More
537 Words | 3 Pages

The American Industrial Revolution was something very important in the 1800s for America. The American Industry was truly born the first 30 years of the 1800. In this time many people invented many helpful inventions such as the railroad, steam engine, factories, powered ships, sawmills, and etcetera. Samuel Slater built the first American factory. Oliver Evans created the first steam engine, which came in handy in many of the inventions that were made in this time period.

Read More

More about Samuel Slater: Turning Point Of The American Industrial Revolution

Related Topics

Open Document