Chapter+5-+The+Industrial+Age


 * The Industrial Age **

** The Industrial Revolution started in 1750. It was caused by people trying to find ways to increase production of food and other goods. In the Industrial Revolution, they took mostly kids and women to work in factories. Factories made children work so they can pay them cheaper than the men and also because the children's hands were smaller so they could fit their hands in the machinery. **

** After the Civil War, the railroad system grew rapidly and drove economic growth in the United States. Consolidation, the practice of combining separate companies, made large companies more efficient and bigger. Railroad barons, such as Cornelius Vanderbilt and James J. Hill, controlled the nation's rail traffic. Railroads carried raw materials such as iron, ore, coal, timber, and manufactured goods to factories. Railroads also had an effect on the lumber industry, which supplied wood for railway ties, and the coal industry, which provided fuel. ** ** Railroad companies adopted a standard gauge which allowed faster shipment of goods at a reduced cost. Railroad companies competed fiercely with one another to keep old customers and to win new ones. The growing railroad network helped American industry expand into the West. **

** Many new inventions helped people communicate more quickly over long distances. In 1844 Samuel Morse had introduced the telegraph. The telegraph offered almost instant communication and served many purposes. Many years later Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876. In 1879 Thomas Edison created the first light bulb. In this era of time Henry Ford had a vision and later invented the car. By the early 1900s many people across the world had cars. ** ** The United States has plentiful resources, including those making up the factors of production- land, labor, and capital. **

The Industrial Revolution began in England around 1733 with the first cotton mill. As new inventions were being made, factories followed soon after. England wanted to keep its industrialization a secret, so they prohibited anyone who had worked in a factory to leave the country. Americans offered a significant reward to anyone who could build a cotton-spinning machine in the United States. Samuel Slater, who had been an apprentice in an English cotton factory, disguised himself and came to America. Once here, he reconstructed a cotton-spinning machine from memory. He then proceeded to build a factory of his own. The Industrial Revolution had arrived in the United States.

The Industrial Revolution brought severe consequences to society. Many factory owners who needing cheap and unskilled labor workers profited greatly by using children and women to run the machines. By the age of six, many children were already working fourteen hours a day in factories. These kids had no free time to do anything else and earned low wages. Some got sick and died because of the toxic fumes, while others were severely injured and sometimes killed working at the dangerous machines in factories. The Industrial Revolution had both good and bad sides.

The Industrial Revolution took place from the 18th to 19th centuries. Rural societies in Europe and America became industrial and urban. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, which began in Britain in the late 1700s, manufacturing was often done in people’s homes, using hand tools or basic machines. Industrialization marked a shift to powered, special-purpose machinery, factories and mass production. The iron and textile industries, along with the development of the steam engine, played central roles in the Industrial Revolution, which also saw improved systems of transportation, communication and banking. While industrialization brought about an increased volume and variety of manufactured goods and an improved standard of living for some, it also resulted in often grim employment and living conditions for the poor and working classes.