How Did The Industrial Revolution Affect The American Economy

After America had won the war for independence against England, the new country had to find a way to get its own money. Before America had separated, the crops grown had been sent to England where it was sold. The money used to go to England, but now that America was free, who would the money go to? The years after America first became independent were called the Industrial Revolution which was a period of major industrialization. The Industrial Revolution changed the American economy by bringing most of the wealth to plantation and factory owners.
The South’s economy became more dependent on cotton and slave labor. This was because there was a boom in textiles during the Industrial Revolution causing a huge demand for cotton. The South depended
on slave labor to produce this crop. Cotton was grown on plantations which were basically large farms. African American slaves worked on these plantations. Since the demand for cotton was so high, machines such as the cotton gin were invented. Rather than taking all day to produce one pound of cotton by hand, workers with the cotton gin could clean about fifty pounds of cotton per day. With just one cotton gin, plantation owners could have their slaves produce fifty times the amount of cotton which meant that they could sell a lot more of this crop. Slaves didn’t get paid for their work, so all the money that the plantation owner’s received was for himself.
While the South’s economy depended on cotton and slave labor, the North’s economy became industrialized and urban.
Before the Industrial Revolution, cotton used to be sent overseas to be made into cloth in England using the machinery there, but now, America had to make their own materials. Factories were being built in locations all over the North so that America could make their own clothing. Factories were an invention which brought workers and machinery together in one place. The invention of factories attracted people looking for jobs such as immigrants from Ireland and escaped African American slaves from the South. As the North grew with the arrival of immigrants and African Americans, it became more urban. Cities such as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania doubled in size. People working at the factory used new technology that nobody had ever heard of. One invention was the sewing machine which sewed seams into a fabric. With this invention, factory workers could produce much more clothing in the same amount of time. Soon, the North was producing most of America’s manufactured goods. One year, Americans had over one billion dollars invested in businesses. Of that total, over ninety percent was invested in businesses in the North. Even though all this money was being made, the factory workers got very little money, most of the money made in the factory was what the owners
kept. The North and South had economic changes, and so did America as a whole. Before the country had gained independence, all the crops grown were sent to England where it was manufactured and sold. England got most of the profit from the crops grown in their colonies, but then, after independence was gained, America would be getting the money. Even though most people would think that the money was evenly distributed, it wasn’t. Very few people were making lots of money. The people who were making the most money were the factory and plantation owners. Although the factory workers in the North got some money, they didn’t get all of it, that was saved for the factory owners. In the South, slaves who worked on plantations didn’t get paid at all, they were considered property, not a person, therefore, they didn’t get any