American History

Industrial Revolution can not be categorized by time. There is no precise moment when the industrial revolution started in the United States. After 1865, the United States economy started expanding. The country experienced the most profound economic revolution of all times. United States was previously a British colony and it was the first time that any industrialization had taken place outside Europe.

In the early 1900s, many immigrants, more than 25 million, entered United States and labor was widely available. (Lampard, E.E.) Urbanization started taking place and many people from the rural areas started to move to the cities in search of jobs or just a better life.

During this era the country experienced many changes, the changes occurred in the agricultural sector, transportation, textile, and the social structure.

Child Labor
At the time of the industrial revolution, the demand for labor was high. There was unskilled labor as people did not have the training and the experience to get the job done. Also, many families were migrating from the rural area and did not have any idea about the industrialized cities. They were just looking for work and a prosperous future.

These families needed to survive in the city and to be able to do this, each and every member of the family had to work, even the children. During this time period, children as young as six years used to work at the factories and industries. These children had to put in long hours and the remuneration they received was minimal.

Many accidents used to take place at the work site because children used to be near, large and heavy machinery. Some children were killed in these accidents. The children who were subjected to the most horrible conditions were those who were orphaned. These orphans were also paid the least and the justification given by the factory owners and managers was that they received food and shelter in return for the work that they do.

The behavior of the other older workers towards the children was also not good. They were treated cruelly and without consideration of their age. The most basic punishment given to the children for being late was a weight being tied around their neck. The children had to walk around the factory with this weight so that they others could learn a lesson.

In the 1900 the Census found out that about two million children were working in mills, farms, factories, and on city streets all over the country. This figure represented 18.3 of children between the ages ten to fifteen. Because of this finding, a National Child Labor Committee was established in 1904. The job of this committee was to protect the children and introduce reforms on child labor.

Looking at the working conditions of children, many people started lobbying against it and suggested that a federal agency be created dedicated solely to this purpose. In 1916 a law was passed, known as the Keating-Owen Child Labor Act of 1916 (39 Stat. 675). This law regulated child labor. The shortcoming of this law was that it did not include the children ho worked in the agricultural sector.

In 1938 when the fair Labor Standards Act was passed, the regulation of child labor was established among other provisions. This law started that 16 was the minimum age for employing any person for a job and if the job was dangerous and hazardous then the minimum age was increased to 18.

Industries
In the 1900s the industries were faring quite well. There were mass producing and their costs were at an all time low. Economies of scale were being experienced by all the industries. United States as an economy was unique because it not only comprised of the big industries but also the numerous small businesses which were operating.

In 1901, the United States Steel Corporation was formed and it was worth 1 billion. Before this any business was not worth more than  1 million. Many large and big businesses started to take over the market with the help of the technological progress. Many of the small businesses, such as farmers, local merchants, and the city dwellers were left at the mercy of the monopolies.

The government did not have enough control over these big businesses as they spread faster than before. These big businesses did not only bring problems but also many benefits. The benefits included a better quality of life, material well being and general prosperity among the people. The economy also fared well and the GDP during this decade doubles. It went from 18.7 billion in 1900 to 35.3 billion in 1910.

The United States emerged as an industrialist nation whose industries could compete with those of Germany and the Great Britain.

Work Force
When the 20th century came up, the United States as a nation was worried about its place in the world. There were differences among the people as to what stance should the country take. The people were sick of working long hours, without proper breaks and working conditions. This initiated the labor movement.

It was in the 1930s when the labor movement gained momentum. There was an abundance of labor as many people would move from the rural area to the cities for jobs at factories. Whenever an employee asked for his rights, the employers would replace him because there were many others willing to take his place.

To protect the rights of the employees, labor unions were formed. The job of the labor union was to represent the employees and to bargain on behalf of the employees and ask for their needs and rights. The labor unions helped organize the needs and wants of the employees. The benefit was that the employer only had to deal with a few workers as the union represented all the workers in one factory.

The employers had to listen to the unions, otherwise they would initiate strike and all the workers would stop working. This would be a problem for the employer as no work would get done. With the help of the union, workers got their due share of power and were able to get some authority over the employers.

The use of machinery also increased in the 1900s. This led to an increase in the production levels of any employee. The industries started moving towards specialization, all the employees hired were assigned a specific task. Specialization helped increase the quality of the product and enabled the workers to do the job quicker, as they got good at what they were doing.

Technological Progress
There was much technological advancement in the 1900s. In the year 1901, the first radio receiver received its radio transmission, successfully. The air conditioner was invented which is now a necessity all over the world.

The biggest invention of the century was the airplane by the Wright brothers. This invention has changed the face of the world. It made transportation from one place to another much quicker. People could now travel the world in lesser time. Products, even those with a shorter lifespan, could be sold in other countries.

Following this invention was the helicopter by Paul Cornu in 1907. There were other inventions which helped make life easier. These were on a lower scale. Most of the inventions were base don science. The people at that time did not consider if others needed that product or not. Some of these inventions have become very popular and are still being used at a larger scale. For example the pop-up toaster, it is still being used by people all over the world.

Technological advancements have also helped businesses. It has cut down the number of workers it takes to do one job. In 1920, for example, 2.1 million Americans earned a living by working for railroads, compared with just over 230,000 today. (Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas) The transportation industry helped employ many workers and with the increase in the transportation methods many businesses found it easier to locate in other parts of the country.

There was much technological advancement which we have grown so accustomed to that we can not imagine life without them. For example, in 1910, only one-fourth of U.S. factories used electrical power.

Issues
With the coming of the 19th century issues such as womens rights and the rights of the African Americans were being voiced.

Around the same time, women started graduating from college and wanted to voice their opinions. Female delegates were sent to the Worlds Anti-Slavery Convention in London were not allowed to participate in 1840. The women at that time decided to have a womens rights convention when they came back to the United States. This was not possible till the 1848. In the same year, a law was passed in the state of New York that the property held by women before their marriage would stay under their name even after marriage.

Another issue was about the voting rights. Only men were allowed according to the 14th Amendment. Women were not given the right to vote till the case of Minor v. Happersett, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that a womens right to vote and other political rights were in the jurisdiction of the state. Thus, individually states started granting women the right to vote. By the year 1900, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and Idaho had granted women the right to vote. When the 19th Amendment came out, women were given full suffrage in each state.

The other major issue of the era was that of the African Americans. The Blacks were physically separated from the Whites. They were not allowed to live in the same neighborhood also there was segregation in public places such as restaurants, theaters and cafes. The segregation was not limited to public places and living areas. It also included the military where the Blacks were put in separate battalions.

In the Air Force, training of Black Fighter pilots was carried out at a separate base located at Tuskegee, Alabama. When all of this discrimination got too much for the Black people to handle they threatened to march on Washington. To avoid this fiasco, President Roosevelt passed the Executive Order 8002. This order stated that there would be no discrimination in the employment of workers, in the Government and the defense industries, on the basis of race, color, national origin or creed.

Discrimination was not only against the Black people but also people from China and Japan. The Japanese people were asked to move to the West Coast because the government though that they might be spies. The Executive Order 9066 was signed by President Roosevelt in 1948, requiring the Japanese to move. Families lost their lives and their earnings. After the war was over, these people were not even provided with proper accommodation and had to live in one room apartments.
This error was not fixed until 1988, when President Reagan officially apologized to the families and awarded them 20,000 as a repayment of the discriminatory actions that were taken against them.