Benefits Of Industrialization After Civil War

INDUSTRIALIZATION AFTER THE CIVIL WAR
Industrialization led to urbanization in most of the major city centers which led to bigger business. This change in enterprise is what changed/influenced the politics of not only the cities themselves, but the country as a whole. During the industrialization that followed the end of the civil war, there were many opportunities for American’s. Not all American’s would benefit from such advances though. The rise of big business game way for many groundbreaking advancements. Machinery developments were leading to improved production allowing businesses to put out more goods in the same amount of time. This in turn let to bigger investments and new money being brought in to fund the continued growth. The
Immigrants and businessmen alike migrated to the cities in droves. It was easier to get to work when living close to the factory. Immigrants moved to the cities because it was often cheaper than living away from the work or outside of the city. Businessmen wanted to be close to their investments and thus also migrated to often different, more upscale, parts of the city. There were a couple huge problems with urbanization, the major two being crime and waste. As the amount of people increased, the city count not often keep up a satisfactory police force. This allowed for increased crime rates especially among immigrants. The bigger problem, in my opinion, was waste. While there were some systems in place, most of the waste flowed out of the cities and downstream into the rivers and streams nearby. (Mercadal,
Big business was one of those groups effected. They were very fortunate in this era. Businesses were making a killing on the increased production abilities the development were allowing, all while hiring cheap, immigrant labor to save money. They could pay less wages to immigrants because they were thought of as second class citizens. To this end, small businesses were not able to compete in such a market and many of them were either bought out by a bigger company or just closed outright.
Another group that many don’t think of when it comes to urbanization and industrialization is farmers. Farmers could benefit from some of the new technology as well. Some of the technology led to better food production. Some of the technology meant farmers did not need as many farm hands as they once did. This pushed more laborers into the cities and to the factory.
Working at home during this time was common for most women. It was the belief that women belonged in the home doing house work and tending to the children. The industrialization changed that in some ways. (Casperson, 1984) Women could be more self-reliant and make their own money. They no longer had to depend on a man to make ends meet, though they were, at this time, making far less than men. This also allowed women to work outside of the home and socialize with other