Industrialization After the Civil War

Industrialization after the Civil War

Theresa R. Morton

Professor James Tim Allen

HIS 105

May 10, 2014

Industrialization after the Civil War

Industrialization was the cause of substantial deviations in many people’s lives. America experienced improvements in industry, trade and the quality of life improved. The railroad system helped the West become more settled and established. People were able to get around with the development of the transit system which allowed them an outlet. In addition, technology was developed to help transmit electricity through cities as well as other advanced technology. I believe these are pertinent changes that industrialization has caused in people lives.

Railroads

According to Shultz (2014), the central industries of the industrial Revolution were railroads, steel, and petroleum. Railroad expansion was a probable development of the post-Civil War years. Railroads covered the nation, making transportation of goods and products easy, inexpensive, and dependable. The federal government supported the railroad system and it expanded from 30,000 miles of track to 250,000 miles ( (Shultz, 2014). However, railroads probably contributed the most to American industrialization. Railroads allowed cities and people to trade with one another and railroads help populate the country and they also helped to build more cities. The workers who built the railroad came from the ranks of immigrants who flooded the country following the Civil War. They were primarily Italians, Irish, and Chinese. The Chinese especially became very proficient at the skills necessary to tunnel through the California Sierra Mountains, using hammers, chisels and black powder to blast through the rock. In addition, large amounts of money changed hands which was the opportunity for corruption to take place and misuse of railroad funds. Government officials were kept quiet about business practices that were unethical therefore, the corporation “Credit Mobilier” gave shares of stock to the public officials to supervise the railroads themselves. Huge profits from the railroads was enjoyed by many however, the railroads often failed to produce profits and ended being written off as losses (The Industrialization in America, 2013).

Entrepreneurs and Technologies

According to Shultz (2014), entrepreneurs began to emerge and began to develop big business leaders, various technological, financial, and legal modernizations which powered the Industrial Revolution. One invention during this time was the incandescent light bulb, created by Thomas Edison in 1879. With experimenting with the power of electricity he was able