How Did The Second Industrial Revolution Affect The Economy

From 1865 to 1900 agriculture was at war, shifting from small, individual farms to larger commercialized farms because of the devaluing of currency, competition from corporate farms with more land and better technology, and government policies that proved detrimental to those clinging to old ways of life. To escape debt and seek profit in new lands, many farmers started working westward but so did corporations looking to expand. Because of westward expansion, companies like the union pacific railroad company built railroads that connected lands all across the U.S. and earned 10 miles of land in either direction of the railroad. This land put the railroad in control of many western lands and in control of the prices of land, travel and resource transportation.

Additionally, due to the railroads being built all across America, new raw materials were able to be moved from city to city allowing for rapid industrial and manufacturing growth which America always was challenged of since its break from Britain. The industrial revolution following the Civil War also differed as agriculture began to become more valuable to a developing nation. For instance, whereas before farmers were isolated from one another and lived in separate homes, due to the reliance of the nation to use the profits derived from agriculture to get more money to buy manufacturing goods stimulating industry more farmers began to move to the cities changing their lives completely. Due to the decrease in the agricultural, scattered, and isolated communities in the Midwest, America was able to become a more compact economic, independent, and industrial powerhouse. For generations, America had relied on old-fashioned, traditional ways of creating

After the railroad lines had been built out west changes occurred for both the Western and Eastern United States. By 1860 railroads connected nearly every major city and over 80 percent of farms were 5 miles from the railroad. It was easier and faster to transport goods such as; lumber, grain, corn, etc. to the Eastern United States. Farming changed with railroads because farmers could put their products and animals on the trains and make money. Within the first 10 years of completion the railroad had shipped over $50 million in goods.

During the Era of Good Feelings, 19th century, the beginnings of a new way to manufacture and supply goods reached America and completely shifted its economy. Like the Industrial Revolution, the Market Revolution was a process that changed and shaped the way American citizens worked and spent their money. Shifting from a Jeffersonian vision - agrarian nation and independent farmers separated from the influence of the wealthy - to a Hamiltonian vision, which advocated for banks and factories, marked the beginning of the Market Revolution and the switch of a America to a manufacturing based economic society. The Market Revolution succeeded in boosting the economies in both the Northern and Midwestern states through the creation of new transportation networks, the American System, and organized manufacturing.

How did railroads impact America after the Civil War? Throughout history, transportation has helped move people and materials around in civilizations. Transportation has enabled the growth of cities and has further increased the development of complex societies. A method of transportation widely used is the system of railroads; before cars and airplanes became popular, trains dominated passenger and freight services due to their simplicity and business versatility.

The railroads were also being regulated by the government so the people did not have to pay as much. The federal government made the prices reasonable to afford and it was easier to make a living in the West (Interstate Commerce

Both the railroads and machinery advancements changed the way of farming. Railroads made it more accessible to get products to town and city markets before the food or products became bad, and this also meant that the farmers would make more money. The machinery advancements along with technology also played a great role in farmer’s lives. Machinery made it easier and faster to get crops off the field in a timely manner and also kept the products in good conditions.

With the Civil war came many changes to America’s economy, specifically to her transportation and labor systems. While the United States’ transportation sector changed positively, the labor system did not, since the loss of slaves took its toll on the South’s economy. Overall, America’s economy changed so much from 1865 to 1880 that the effects can still be seen

In a time after the Civil War, when a transcontinental railroad was created connecting the East and West, people began to move and settle across the country, creating new urban cities and manufacturing hubs. It was because of the railroad that the Second Industrial Revolution and the Gilded Age took place which rapidly increased the manufacturing of products through the new machines in factories and the spread of ideas by the telegraph and railroad. It was in this context that many farmers, as well, began to move West and experience a loss in the prices of their crops. It is also in this context that many workers were forced to work long, laborious hours with little pay. Farmers responded to industrialization in the Gilded Age by forming organizations such as the Granger movement and the Farmers Alliance as well as creating the Populist Party.

The first reason the Second Industrial Revolution changed European society was that it had a changed the current consumer society and helped to create the modern consumer culture. Another reason is in the late 19th century people had extra money and were able to start buying products for leisure and luxury rather than because they needed the item because of the creation of many new and available jobs and more money circulating on the European economic markets. The new industries that developed were the fashion industry, the auto mobile industry, the chemical industry, and the electrical industry. The automobile industry arguably had the biggest impact on the twentieth century because it transformed the mobility of the people and it created

In a time when America was coming out of the bloodiest war that was ever fought, against themselves, The Civil War, and when America looked overseas for a new frontier with Imperialism. It is in this context that America started to grow westward with farm land and in industry with the million of workers, but America still felt growing pains. Two significant ways in which farmers and industrial workers responded to industrialization in the Gilded Age (1865-1900) were the formation of organizations to protect farmers, and the creation of labor unions and the use of strikes to protect the workers. One significant way in which farmers responded to industrialization in the Gilded Age (1865 - 1900) was the formation of organizations to protect farmers. During Westward Expansion farmers fell victims to the low pricing of the crops.

Because of economic changes, farmers wanted the US government to to fix their problems through currency changes. After slavery was abolished with the Emancipation Proclamation and the government focused on rebuilding America’s infrastructure, prices for many crops began to drop. Across the nation, farmers began to lose money. In addition, this drop in prices only applied to crops, and not to the other services like shipping and transportation, which remained high. Farmers continued to lose profits until 1892, when a depression sent many farmers into deep debt.

The Tremendous Impact of Railroads on America In the late 19th century, railroads propelled America into an era of unprecedented growth, prosperity, and convenient transportation. Prior to the building of the railroads, America lacked the proper and rapid transportation to make traveling across the country economical or practical. Lengthy travel was often cumbersome, costly, and dangerous.

The time period from when the Second Industrial Revolution was beginning, up until President McKinley’s assassination in 1901, is known as the Gilded Age. After the Civil War, many people headed out West to pursue agriculture, and many immigrants moved to urban areas to acquire jobs in industrial factories. It is in this context that farmers and industrial workers had to respond to industrialization. Two significant ways farmers and industrial workers responded to industrialization in the Gilded Age, were creating the Populist Party and the American Federation of Labor (AFL).

2.6 The Second Industrial Revolution The First Industrial Revolution, which began in the 18th century, merged into the Second Industrial Revolution around 1850, when technological and economic progress gained momentum with the development of steam-powered ships, railways, and later in the 19th century with the internal combustion engine and electrical power generation. Industrialization allowed cheap production of household items using economies of scale, while rapid population growth created sustained demand. Some industry and industrial technique developed for the wars was carried over, converted to peacetime purposes. The first industrial revolution was centered on textiles, iron and steam engine technologies, while the second industrial revolution revolved around steel, railroads, petroleum and chemicals and, finally, electricity.232 From 1815 to 1870