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What led to the rise of industrialization in the US in the late 1800s?
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The main factors that led to the rise of US industrialization were new technologies like steam engines, railroads, and telegraphs that made communication and transportation easier. The ability to source and transport materials across the country with ease turned many local businesses into national companies. Workplace innovations, such as the assembly-line method of production, then allowed these companies to produce goods on a mass scale.
First, we should be clear about the nature of the industrial boom that occurred in the wake of the Civil War. It was the rise of heavy industry and the production of capital goods that characterized the early phases of industrial growth during this period, and by far the biggest factor contributing to growth was the expansion of the railroads.
Railroads expanded exponentially after the Civil War, and their rapid spread facilitated and spurred industrial growth in several ways. They led to a demand for coal, timber, and especially steel, the most important commodity in this new industrial age. They connected markets, enabling businesses like the meatpacking industry to rapidly increase distribution and production. Moreover, their corporate structures formed a paradigm and a model for other industries.
In addition to this new industry, which spawned many others, industrialization was fueled by the massive influx of immigrants from Europe and elsewhere...
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that provided a large industrial labor force. Another factor was the rapid proliferation of new technologies, a cause and an effect of industrial development. Electric light, assembly lines, the Bessemer steel process, and the telephone were just a few of the myriad innovations that helped spur industrial growth.
A final, often-overlooked factor contributing to industrialization was the role played by the federal government. In the wake of the Civil War, the government spurred the growth of railroads by setting aside massive grants of land, providing subsidies, and other measures. The government also established high tariffs and created a generally pro-business economic climate that facilitated industrial growth.
References
In the late 1800s, technology began to advance at a faster rate than it had ever done in the past. In a span of 30 years, beginning in 1960, over 500,000 patents were issued for inventions, mainly involving new forms of energy. Electricity and lighting changed the way that Americans worked and allowed a boom in industrial production.
Steel production improved due to technological advances too. This led to improvements in transportation when railroads and bridges could more easily be built. With these improvements in transportation came more opportunities for industry to grow, as supplies could more readily be delivered and products shipped. Communication improvements brought about with all of the inventions of the era, such as the telephone, improved the way that industries operated.
All of these technological advances changed the way that American industry did business. Having started from small family-owned businesses, American industry began to quickly transform in the late 1800s. Industries grew into large national companies.
Lastly, industrialization benefited when more immigrants began to arrive in this time period, providing a cheap labor force that assured the large industries had a plentiful workforce.
During the second half of the 19th century, a new wave of industrialization spread throughout the U.S. There were several factors spurring this technological movement on. First, several new technologies were developed and improved in rapid succession. Railroads, steam engines, telegraph lines, and the internal combustion engine all became more readily available. More and more Americans found themselves depending on industrial technologies for communication and for economic and social activities.
Another factor that led to the industrialization of the 1900s was the Reconstruction Era. As northern companies worked to rebuild southern infrastructure, they also began industrializing where there had once been no industry. For many southerners, the vision of the “New South” included a local industrial base that would help it compete with northern interests and make it more self-reliant.
This industrialization of the south also continued out west. As America spread toward the Pacific, western towns began installing communication and economic technologies which kept the shrinking frontier connected to the east. Rail and telegraph lines were the most common, but there was also a demand for dynamos, furnaces, and other necessities which helped modernize the west.