To What Extent Did the Industrial Revolution Change American Social, Economic & Political Life?
By Douglas Matus
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The Industrial Revolution, which reached the United States in the 19th century, profoundly reshaped American culture and had a significant impact on subsequent global history. If the American Revolution spurred the birth of a nation, the Industrial Revolution marked that nation's growth into maturity. The Industrial Revolution altered all aspects of American life, from the economy to politics and the fabric of society itself.
Prior to the Industrial Revolution, America possessed a predominantly agrarian economy and generated wealth through the trade of tobacco, and resources such as lumber, minerals, fur and fish. England, rich in resources thanks to its colonial acquisitions, benefited from a series of technological breakthroughs to become the world's first industrial power in the late 18th century. Though the English attempted to monopolize their technology and skilled labor through legislation, industrialization spread throughout Europe and reached America. The Second Industrial Revolution, which took place roughly between 1870 and 1914, established the United States as the world's foremost industrial power.
A New Society
Most 18th century Americans lived in self-sustaining rural communities. The Industrial Revolution witnessed the evolution of large urban centers, such as Boston and New York City, and spurred a massive internal migration of workers. The Industrial Revolution also stimulated the rise of unskilled labor. Prior to the 19th century, most Americans not employed in agriculture performed some kind of skilled trade. The advent of industrial production removed the necessity of apprenticeship for craftsmen and commoditized labor itself. The Industrial Revolution also created a wide availability of cheap commodities, which engendered a consumer culture that marked the end of many rural Americans' subsistence lifestyle.
The American Industrial Revolution announced the arrival and predominance of capitalism, an economic principle that Adam Smith theorized in "Wealth of Nations," and that Karl Marx elaborated upon in his magnum opus, "Capital." The factories that sprang up in the Industrial Revolution illustrated the capitalist principle of wage labor, in which workers disavowed ownership of the means of production in return for an hourly wage. This process concentrated wealth in the hands of industrialists, whose fortunes became tied to the fluctuations of a consumer market. During the Industrial Revolution, capitalist America, with its large population and vast natural resources, became an economic juggernaut that took advantage of a vast internal and international consumer market.
Political Repercussions
The political implications of the American Industrial Revolution included the rise of the United States as a global economic power, the clash between traditional culture and modern progress, and the passage of labor-related legislation. The Civil War represented a conflict between an agrarian society, which relied upon slave labor, and an industrial society in which paid employees fueled a consumer economy. The expansion of the American economy had international repercussions, including the opening of relations with Japan and spurred rapid territorial growth. Urban workers also became a vocal political class, and encouraged the passage of legislation such as the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act.
History: Industrial Revolution -- Facts & Summary
USHistory.org: Economic Growth and the Early Industrial Revolution
Yale University: Yale New-Haven Teachers Institute -- The Industrial Revolution
University of Houston: American Industrial Revolution
University of Groningen: American History from Revolution to Reconstruction and Beyond
US History Scene: The Second Industrial Revolution
Child Labor Education Project: Child Labor in U.S. History
United States Department of Labor: Wage and Hour Division
Douglas Matus is the travel writer for "West Fort Worth Lifestyle" magazine, and spent four years as the Director of Humanities for a college-prep school in Austin. Since 2005, he has published articles on education, travel and culture in such publications as "Nexus," "People's World" and "USA Today." Matus received an Education Pioneers fellowship in 2010 and an MFA from CalArts in 2011.
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