Rehabilitating the industrial revolution

Between the eighteenth and the twentieth centuries, both Europe and America experienced the industrial revolution.

Rural communities that were primarily agrarian during this time became heavily urbanized and industrialized. Prior to the late 1700s, when the industrial revolution began in Europe, the majority of industrial work was carried out in homesteads with simple machines and manual tools. Factory-based mass output using specialized machinery and power tools was a hallmark of the transition to industrialization.

Factors influencing the industrial revolution

There are various factors which played a crucial role during this period of industrial revolution, and the most significant ones included the rise of the textile and iron industries as well as the development of the steam engine (De Vries 257). There were also improved transport systems, communication systems as well as overall improvement in the economy characterized by better banking and other institutions (Hartwell). Despite the improvement in the living conditions and availability of a variety of manufactured goods, problems were inevitable especially for the poor and the working class who still lacked employment opportunities and experienced bad living conditions (Berg and Pat 26).

The American workers’ resistance

The American workers resisted the change to industrial revolution by making various attempts to maintain the traditional ways of operating. This paper will look at the traditional ways of work before the industrial revolution and why the American workers wanted to maintain them. It will also look at the age of industrial revolution and the new ways of work, and finally, it will assess why the American workers were unsuccessful in their efforts to resist the industrial revolution.

Traditional ways of work before the industrial revolution

Before the industrial revolution, the manner of work revolved around individuals who resided in small rural communities practicing subsistence farming. Individuals produced their own food, clothing, and other necessary items such as farming tools and furniture. Manufacturing was equally done in homes and some instances in small shops in the rural areas using simple machines and hand-made tools. During this period, life was generally difficult for the average person because the levels of income were meager and people experienced malnourishment and frequent attacks by diseases (Ashton).

American workers’ desire to maintain traditional ways of work

The American workers wanted to maintain the traditional ways of work which were characterized by agriculture, and they believed that the industrial revolution had come to threaten America’s agrarian future. Drawing from Who Built America (326), “a majority of Americans were engaged in agriculture specifically on small freehold farms.” As a result of these large numbers of people engaged in agriculture, it was believed that the United States could have an agrarian future and not an industrial future. This expectation was illustrated by the rapid expansion of the rural population in the United States. It can also be denoted that “over 90% of people in the American South and over 80% of people in the American North lived in the rural areas by the year 1840.” (Freeman 326). The American population was working in the production of agricultural goods such as cotton, grain, and lumber which were the country’s most important products at the time. The American workers believed in the virtue of rural life, and they disliked the cities because of their potential disorders and huge crowds. According to Thomas Jefferson, urban growth and industrialization posed a huge threat to America’s future. This made him arrange for the purchase of Louisiana in the year 1803 to ensure the ability of the US to grow crops for feeding its population and even exporting some of the produce abroad (Freeman 338). Despite the workers’ plea to maintain America’s agrarian system, the industrial revolution still occurred and the people had to shift to the new ways of operating characterized by the industrial age.

The transformation to the industrial age

The transformation to the industrial age occurred because of various pressures from several directions. The US experienced an inflow of immigrants from Europe with a majority of them moving to the Middle Atlantic region which increased the labor supply (Hirschman and Elizabeth 898). There was also European warfare which was experienced in the early 19th century, and this gave many merchants the courage to redirect their attentions to domestic markets (Freeman 331). The age of the industrial revolution was also characterized by improvements in the patterns of transportation which linked the coastal areas to the other areas, thereby fostering the emergence of national and regional markets for goods and services. Drawing from Who Built America (331), “the American workers were also forced to migrate to the urban areas because of population growth and to seek an opportunity for better income.” Most farmers in the rural areas believed that farming was supposed to bring them competency. This implied that their main aim was to cultivate enough land to acquire enough produce to feed their families, acquire other necessities that they could not find at home as well as acquire new pieces of land upon which their children could establish their farms. They realized that this was not easily achievable because of the increased scarcity of land as well as population growth (Freeman 334). A majority of the farms became too small to support large families, and the farmers began to run short of essential commodities. This led to migration from the rural areas to other areas to seek more land as well as towns and cities to try new occupations and become laborers. The improvement in transport and communication also favored the industrial revolution because “wealthy merchants turned their attention from international trade to America” (Freeman 332). Most of the investors during this period focused more on the improvement of transport and commerce by getting involved in the financing of the construction of infrastructural facilities such as railroads, bridges, and canals. There was encouragement from the state and local governments, and the expenditures increased at a steady rate, thereby leading to great improvements in the transport sector (Freeman 333). The advocates of the agrarian way of life soon realized that the industrial revolution was not such a bad idea and they started adopting it by expanding operations into larger workshops and factories.

Acceptance of the new ways of operating

The American farmers were opposed to the idea of industrialization, and they urged the expansion of manufacturing to take place at the household level. However, as the industrial age advanced, there occurred, “increased demand and investment which made the local manufacturers move into larger workshops and factories.” (338). There occurred an increase in the industrial practice of skilled crafts such as the making of clothes, shoes, hats, furniture as well as leatherworking and printing. Most of the production was shifted from homes into factories, and the merchants began to realize profits from trading in overseas textile operations. There was also the employment of machinery that had been developed in Europe in the 18th century, and this was seen as a good idea because it was explained that, “the time spent in a factory will lead to ten times more production as compared to household manufacturing” (338). The workers were more motivated to apply the industrial means of production instead of local manufacturing because of potentially high yields. This and other developments that followed marked the movement from the household-based production to the factory and industrial productions (Hartwell). The American workers began to accept the new ways of operating because they realized it brought economic success and made them better than their forefathers who relied on agrarian.

Conclusion

In the United States of America, the industrial revolution was not a welcome idea because the advocates of agrarian America believed that agriculture was the future of the country. However, various pressures emerged which facilitated the transformation, including immigration from Europe, population pressures, and the development of infrastructure. The European immigrants led to an increase in the supply of labor, and many investments began to be targeted in America. There was also an improvement in infrastructure which led to linkages between the coastal and local areas. The linkages fostered markets for goods. The farmers in the rural areas were also faced with population growth and were forced to migrate to seek new forms of income. The industry revolution disrupted the traditional patterns of work and established structured, industry-based workplaces. The efforts of the American worker to resist this particular change were not successful because higher economic growth started being realized through the application of the industrial methods. The industrial revolution also began to gain support from the national and local government because of the economic impact it had brought to America.

Works Cited

Ashton, Thomas Southcliffe. “The industrial revolution 1760-1830.” OUP Catalogue (1997).

Berg, Maxine, and Pat Hudson. “Rehabilitating the industrial revolution.” The Economic History Review 45.1 (1992): 24-50

De Vries, Jan. “The industrial revolution and the industrious revolution.” The Journal of Economic History 54.02 (1994): 249-270.

Freeman, Joshua. Who Built America?: Working People and the Nation’s Economy, Politics, Culture, and Society. Vol. 2. Pantheon Books, 1992.

Hartwell, Ronald Max. The industrial revolution and economic growth. London: Methuen, 1971.

Hirschman, Charles, and Elizabeth Mogford. “Immigration and the American industrial revolution from 1880 to 1920.” Social science research 38.4 (2009): 897-920.