Industrialization And Urbanization
During the post Civil War period, the United States entered a period of rapid industrialization and urbanization. The United States transitioned from being a rural country to becoming an urban country. Citizens moved from the countryside and crowded cities. Cities like New York City, Chicago, Cleveland, Pittsburgh… gained an influx of citizens and immigrants. From this rapid industrialization and urbanization many positive and negative effects arose affecting the sociological, economical, and political aspects of American society.
A rise of rapid urbanization and industrialization drastically affected the sociological aspect of American society. Many companies decided to maximize profits by paying workers the least amount of money possible. …show more content…
A belief of Social Darwinism arose that was the foundation for many industries rapid growth. Social Darwinism mirrors Darwin's theory of evolution but insteads refers to industries and economic status. The philosophy behind Social Darwinism is that the rich stay rich since they are fit and poor stay poor since they are unfit. Industrialization drastically increased the economy of the United States. From 1910 to 1920 the value of exports increased from about 2 billion to 8 billion (Document#5). The increase in exports raised the standard value of living in the United States, however the increase in money was not evenly distributed among the people. The upper class citizens acquired more wealth while the lower class citizens stay at their economical status. Also since there were more people than jobs available, workers were easily replaced placing hundreds of thousands of people out of business. Companies kept expanding and became monopolies. Monopolies soon led to government …show more content…
Monopolies had the freedom to raise their prices as high as they wanted since there was no competition and monopolies had the ability to pay their workers as low as possible since there was a surplus of workers. The government had to regulate the power companies had to make sure the workers were treated equally. The government created laws that gave workers minimum wages and help strengthen worker unions in their fight for workers’ rights. One law called the Clayton Antitrust Act state that any monopoly would be disassembled and no one person or company can control a product that might get rid of competition or create monopolies (Document#4). Different political aspects were affected by industrialization.
The political structure of the United States changed radically after industrialization. Most changes allowed voters to vote to change the government, the voters were able to remove elected officials, vote on bills directly etc… (Document#3). This gave more freedom to the people of the country allowing them to have a more direct voice in
A rise of rapid urbanization and industrialization drastically affected the sociological aspect of American society. Many companies decided to maximize profits by paying workers the least amount of money possible. …show more content…
A belief of Social Darwinism arose that was the foundation for many industries rapid growth. Social Darwinism mirrors Darwin's theory of evolution but insteads refers to industries and economic status. The philosophy behind Social Darwinism is that the rich stay rich since they are fit and poor stay poor since they are unfit. Industrialization drastically increased the economy of the United States. From 1910 to 1920 the value of exports increased from about 2 billion to 8 billion (Document#5). The increase in exports raised the standard value of living in the United States, however the increase in money was not evenly distributed among the people. The upper class citizens acquired more wealth while the lower class citizens stay at their economical status. Also since there were more people than jobs available, workers were easily replaced placing hundreds of thousands of people out of business. Companies kept expanding and became monopolies. Monopolies soon led to government …show more content…
Monopolies had the freedom to raise their prices as high as they wanted since there was no competition and monopolies had the ability to pay their workers as low as possible since there was a surplus of workers. The government had to regulate the power companies had to make sure the workers were treated equally. The government created laws that gave workers minimum wages and help strengthen worker unions in their fight for workers’ rights. One law called the Clayton Antitrust Act state that any monopoly would be disassembled and no one person or company can control a product that might get rid of competition or create monopolies (Document#4). Different political aspects were affected by industrialization.
The political structure of the United States changed radically after industrialization. Most changes allowed voters to vote to change the government, the voters were able to remove elected officials, vote on bills directly etc… (Document#3). This gave more freedom to the people of the country allowing them to have a more direct voice in