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The Role Of Industrialization In The Gilded Age

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The Gilded Age was a revolution, primarily because of the intense industrialization that occurred during the time, but why is the process of industrialization called a revolution? The process of industrialization was of extreme importance, mostly because it marked a shift to the development of new technology, the expansion of railroads, and the positive and negative effects on the people during the industrialization era. Prior to the industrial revolutions, manufacturing was often done in people’s homes, mainly using hand tools or basic machines. However, the development of new technologies, such as the Bessemer Process, and new machinery, which lead to the formation of mass production, made manufacturing easier. The Bessemer Process invented by Henry Bessemer, is a process used to covert large quantities of molten iron into steel - the process had been used for centuries outside of Europe, but Bessemer discovered how to do it on an industrial scale. The Bessemer Process made steel stronger and as a result stronger steel allowed for many architectural advances. Before mass production, people had to make everything by hand, which would take hours or even days. However, after the formation of mass production many products were able to be made quickly and as a result manufacturing costs dropped, production increased, and prices decreased. …show more content…

Specifically, that of the the Transcontinental Railroad. The Transcontinental Railroad, completed in 1869, made it possible to travel from New York to San Francisco in eight days. Prior to the railroad, it would take more than four months to travel from New York to San Francisco. As a result of the railroad, goods could be shipped more quickly and less expensively, which meant that the price of goods decreased and increased the size of

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