Effects of the Industrial Revolution.
The Industrial Revolution is the name given to the movement in which machines changed people's way of life as well as their methods of manufacture. About the same time that Europe was under going a revolution, America underwent an Industrial revolution where they went from being mostly agricultural society to an industrial society; eventually making us the greatest industrial nation in the world today. Between 1860 and 1900, the amount of coal produced in America increased by 2000% and the production of steel increased by 5000%! The population in urban areas went up 5 fold. Miles of railroad tracks increased six times. How did such a tremendous change occur in such a short time and why?.
From 1861 to 1885, the Republican Party was the governing body in the politics in the United States. From the presidency, into Congress, their platform was pro-industry. They wanted Liberal immigration, a railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific Oceans, and an adjustment on tariffs. .
Production also went up because of more workers. New workers came from two main sources; the first source is from many Americans who owned farms and made money from the crops they grew were working in factories. The second group and the largest number of workers were immigrants. In the 1890's, 8.8 million immigrants came into the U.S. all in search of jobs. They needed the money so badly that they were willing to work for such little pay, so, the managers could hire many workers and produce much more at a cheaper price. With so many goods produced they couldn't sell them all in their particular area. They needed some way to transport their goods around the country.
The answer to this problem was to increase production and the workers in America. Steel changed the world and led the way for railroads, factories, and automobiles. One man emerged as the leading steel tycoon, Andrew Carnegie. Using a combination of salesmanship and the latest technology in his business, U.