Industrial Revolution. Good or Bad?

Did the Industrial Revolution have a postive or negative effect on American society? im curious as to see what you guys think. I know it didnt just happen in America, but the whole question is pertaining to American society

For those who dont know what the industrial revolution is when America started to develop at a very fast pace because of machinery and new technology

 

I don't think there was any way to stop it. It would've happened eventually. Of course it was a good thing. I don't want to spend 15 hours a day working in fields or farms. Lol

 

Well the industrialization of American society led to the Civil War. The north became highly industrialized and the south still held agrarian roots where they produced a lot of cotton that wasn't sent to the Northern factories but to England, so the businesses of the north eventually convinced the government to begin to heavily tariff southern cotton exports that put a stranglehold on their economy. Slavery was actually a relatively minor issue, it was more about economy.

Now onto the grand scheme of things. If America hadn't industrialized we would have never become a super power and the world would be a SO much different place.

 

It didn't help that (most) southern states refused cooperate..

Well said.

 

Working conditions during the industrial revolution was atrocious, read this-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution#United_States and scroll down to social effects.

Also, industrialization created a huge migration of people to large cities, which led to high crime rates. So really the industrial revolution was both bad and good.

 

interesting, so youre saying the civil war was after the Industrial revolution? I read otherwise

 

But I think we can all agree that it did much more good than bad.

 

No. He is saying the industrial revolution caused the civil war.

The industrial revolution was 99% in the northern states of America, the south stuck to agriculture. This led to disagreements and tension between the north and south, leading to the civil war.

 

hmm anywhere i can read about this? its kinda interesting, or would you mind telling more more about it and give me some more details?

 

Before I even add my two cents, is this an essay question? If so, you are very clever my friend. It yielded good results as well as bad results. Clothing production had grown abundant, thus allowing the middle class to have some fashion. Meat transformed from a rarity into a commodity which we can't complain about today. The job market exploded, causing families to rake in a functional income. Overall, during the time it promoted our nation's economy as we became more capitalistic. As for the negatives, child labor was a primary problem at this time because children were prime candidates for their size when involved in machinery work. Working conditions were already mentioned above but they were absolutely terrible as it can't be emphasized enough. However, child labor laws were implemented some time after which set the stage for our society as we know it. That's my "give or take" analysis on the Industrial Revolution so please feel free to correct any of my mistakes.

 

everyones saying there was good and bad results, but overall, do you think the industrial revolution was mainly good or bad?

 

America began to industrialize in the early 1800s, after the initial industrialization of England in the late 1700s. The Civil War didn't occur until 1861, so whatever your source was is very wrong. Essentially Slavery was the excuse that the north used to tax the south heavier because most of the cotton exporters used slave labor, but the truth is that the northern factory owners were just in it for the profit. They placed the tariffs on the imports from England because essentially what England could do is flood the market with cheaper products and this created too much competition so adding more taxes on the imports made them more expensive so that it forced the south to but from the north.

This is referred to as Sectionalism.

http://shs.westport.k12.ct.us/schager/US 2005-06/Civil War/economics &_civil_war.htm
http://oep.oxfordjournals.org/content/50/4/563.abstract

 

At the time it might have more bad than good, but in the long run definitely good.

 

Agreed, it was bad initially mainly because of child labor, etc. In the long wrong it was good because it promoted the middle class with job availability, etc.

 

After laws against things like monopolies, LONG work days, and child labour were placed everything worked out fairly smooth. It's just the fact that it was such a rapid change, some people are obviously going to lag behind and not adapt as quickly.
This thread is a good example of why studying history isn't useless.

 

It quickly allowed/made America to be a world power. Before that, America was agrarian society (farming society) that was dependent on slave labor and production wasn't as good as it was with the aid of the machine.

 

This last bit is entirely untrue. While some historians are controversial to the idea of slavery being the only reason for the civil war, they know it played an ENORMOUS part in the war.

The south's economy would be killed if the slaves were freed and laws that were about controlling slaves in non slave states. Also, the union was the only army to allow black soldiers. Blacks were discriminated against heavily after the emancipation proclamation and the civil war in the south because of the high tensions between them from before.

The civil war was not all about money.

 

It really mostly was. The economic aspect of slave labor was important, but not the slave labor itself. Quite simply, not very many people gave a fuck, including Abraham Lincoln, who saw that it just wasn't economically sustainable to have half the country relying on slavery as a primary source of income.

Either way the industrial revolution is responsible for the creation of the middle class. Though painful in and of itself, it still had central effects to the entertainment and leisure industry. Enabling a significant portion of the population to have spare cash to spend on things that are not basic necessities directly creates an explosion in jobs and prosperity, due to the fact that a whole industry is created to gobble up this spare cash. It also pushed science forward since it became more viable for people to get educated and get access to tools otherwise reserved for the elite.

 

The war wasn't entirely over money, but I never said that it was - it was a war of social and economic struggles. The north held a stranglehold on the southern economy because of the vast industrialization. Lincoln didn't even free the slaves that were held in the northern states. He freed the slaves in the south which was at the time a completely different country. Slaves were symbolism for the deep economic and social differences that were the real cause. The issues of the war go much deeper than slavery they go right to the core issues of the time. The south was made up of aristocrats with close ties to England while the north was made up of mostly people who wish to be separated completely from England. There was no moral battle that was fought out over if slaves should be free or not, the slaves being freed was essentially an effect of the north winning the war. I don't condone slavery or the mistreatment of anyone, that isn't what I am getting at but slavery took a back seat to the economic and social issues that were tangent to slavery.

Slavery would have worked itself out in the end as capitalism advanced and we saw that the use of slaves were inefficient. You have to house, feed, and give some sort of notions of care to a slave labor force - you don't have to do that with machines and in the end the south would have become more industrialized and ended the use of domestic slaves.

 

Very positive, no doubt in my mind.