Manufacturing and Urbanization - Essay Example

Your Manufacturing and Urbanization Describe the rise of the market economy and the subsequent transportation revolution and urbanization and beginning of industrialization. How did this affect the lives of people throughout the republic? How did it particularly affect (white) women and increase inequality. United States industrialization started around the nineteenth century. Farms were slowly getting into manufacturing; farming industries also gave way to being mechanized, such as the cotton industry. Because of the rise of industrialism in the nineteenth century, United States became an industrialized society. This change was sped up by transportation revolution as well as immigration. Urbanization, along with the need for a market economy, also contributed America’s industrialization. Industrialization changed the lives of everyone. The farmers had become workers in factories and mills. Agriculture became mechanized, and with technology, the food production increased. Coupled with fast production and mechanization, the farmers worked faster. Since the transportation network was also quite effective, goods were also transported throughout America, boosting commerce and industry throughout the regions. Urbanization also went hand in hand with industrialization as with the expansion of farming. The mechanization of the textile industry was not until mid-nineteenth century when the likes of Lowell Mills (in Massachusetts) sprouted. In fact, Lowell Mills was the most profitable mill in Massachusetts. In 1814, the Boston Manufacturing Company was established and it built a mill near the Charles River. It became the first integrated mill in the United States: it was the first mill to have had carding, spinning and weaving. For several years, the town of Lowell in Massachusetts became the default place for putting up mills in America as ten textile corporations opened more than thirty mills in Lowell. The city became world famous as the “center of efficient industry”. These mills had eight thousand workers, women between ages 16 to 35 as their workers and they were promised high wages by men who told them that these jobs were available to all social classes, since being a mill girl is considered being degrading. The Lowell Mills had a large-scale mechanization with the goal of improving the stature the women in the workforce. The mills usually hired employees for a year and they were renewed every year (the average employee lasts for four years). The new ones had a fixed wage while the older employees were paid by the piece. The workers usually worked for fourteen hours each day and their work averages for seventy three hours each week. The workers were overseen by two male managers. The rooms are hot with eighty workers to a room, and the windows are closed to maintain thread count and thread work. The workers were also housed in boarding houses that were provided by the company, with six workers in a bedroom. Because of the economic depression of the 1830s, the board of directors of the mills proposed a reduction in the women’s wages and the employees had strikes. The women lost and the employees left town, and this was seen as a “betrayal of femininity”. In 1845, the Lowell women started the Lowell Female Labor Reform Association. It demanded a ten hour work for the women of Lowell Mills. The movement became unsuccessful then but in 1847, their work hours were reduced by 30 minutes. In New Hampshire, however, the State Board passed a law for a ten hour workday. This development in the industrialization of America brought forth inequality in the working class, particularly in the lives of female white workers as exemplified by the working women of Lowell Mills. The inequality was not only sexist as it only affected women. Then inequality stretched to the point where the capitalists have used the term “more wages” as they hired women, on the premise of them providing better lives, with these women not knowing that they will be in for more hardships. 2. Alongside a growth in manufacturing and the growth of cities was an increase in the number of immigrants arriving from many parts of the globe, but particularly from Europe. Describe some of these groups, particularly the Irish and the Chinese and some of the hostilities that Nativists harbored. The era of industrialization also ushered immigrants in America. From 1865 to 1918, there were 27.5 million immigrants went into the United States; 89% were Europeans (British, Irish, Scandinavian, German, Russians and Italians) and 11% were Asian. Most of the Asians were Chinese and unlike most Europeans, the Chinese were not as welcome. The greatest influx of immigrants came to America around the 1840s to the 1920s. Census figures state that there were about 6 million Germans, 4.5 million Irish, 3.3 million Russians, 5 million Italians, 4.2 million people from England, Scotland and Wales, and 2.3 million Scandinavians. Before 1882, there were no restrictions to immigrants going into America. Immigration was welcome to the states. However, nativist feelings burst open during the 1850s when Know-Nothing party gained popularity in the political scene. The Irish immigrant population amounted to over 2.2 million. They fled their mother country because of the potato famine, political struggles and failing economies. The British government paid the Irish 15 shillings to go to settle to Canada, only to be shipped in “coffin ships” because of the deaths that occur in transit from Britain to Canada. Because of the harsh climes in Canada, the people who successfully make it there make it to the American border and settle in New York or Boston, depending which is nearer to them. The Irish famine was due in part because of the potato blight and failed British economic policies. The mills in America in the 1850’s required a lot of workers and because of some Americans’ dissent (like the Lowell women’s), the immigrants filled the workforce, particularly the Irish population. The Know Nothing political party was nativist in nature. It grew out of fear because of massive influx of Irish settlers. They restricted the immigration from Catholic countries, restricting political office to native-born Americans, restricting the sale of liquor, restricting public school teachers to Protestants only, and mandating a waiting period of 21 years before an immigrant could gain citizenship. Because of the California Gold Rush in the 1848-1855, and the development of the Transcontinental Railroad, the Chinese came into the United States. The Chinese were well-received at first, especially during the Gold Rush. As gold became scarcer in the region, the hostility towards the Chinese (foreigners, for that matter), increased. As the Chinese had lesser gold-related jobs, they settled in San Francisco and settled for menial jobs. The anti-Chinese movement became so politicized that a law was passed that suspended Chinese immigration in America. The Chinese Exclusion Act was, by far, the most significant restrictions in immigration in US history; it excludes the Chinese (skilled and unskilled, plus those in mining businesses) from entering the country with the punishment of getting deported or being imprisoned. Racism was rampant; many Chinese were persecuted just because they are Chinese. Its main critic is the Republican Senator George Frisbie Hoar who described the law as “the legalization of racial discrimination”. It was only repealed in 1943 by the Magnuson Act. In 1907, the Japanese immigration was also reduced because the Gentlemen’s Agreement. The agreement was between the United States and Japan. 3. Describe why many of these changes were, or were at least perceived as negative, and what did individuals and groups do in response? The nativist movement spurned because of the threats that the immigrants posed to the locals. Industrialization in America boosted the country’s economy. It should be noted that America just came out from Civil War. The country was still rather divided, from North and South, and East and West. However, because of business and trade, the infrastructure growth of the country increased along with the technologies that proved to be necessary for industrialization, paving the way for development. Transportation and communication increased in nineteenth century: roads, railroads and canals/steamboats. They were used to transport the goods from one point to the other. Before, they used wagons and it proved to be more taxing. With these forms of transportation, this allowed faster logistical efforts for the capitalists, making their product turnovers faster. Trains proved to be the most successful form of transportation, with railroads connecting East to West and North to South, practically connecting the whole country. Communication-wise, the age of industrialization gave way to the telegraph, the post office and the newspapers. The telegraph made long distance communication instantaneous, which is important for businesses. The growth of post offices was drastic in this period, with post offices from 3,000 to 8,000 offices. The Associated Press was also established 1846, with their own newspaper. The Irish became the largest source of immigration. They immigrated to the United States because of the blight that triggered the famine in their motherland. They were basically attracted by the promise of economic opportunity, and it did, because the industries in America needed workers to support their production as the immigrants provided cheap labor. Unlike the locals (see the Lowell Girls), the Irish immigrants were not really complaining about adverse working conditions and cheap wages. By 1860, almost 62% of workers were made up of immigrants. The same thing happened in the West Coast, where the Chinese flocked to California for the Gold Rush. Although the first few years of the Gold Rush was indeed promising until the prospects dried up, and they settled for menial and dangerous jobs like laying the railroad for the West. Industrialization triggered faster and more productive manufacturing for factories and plants. Agriculture was also boosted. There were food surpluses as well as the promise of work. There were also new roads and communication that made the country more accessible and practically smaller. Along with the technology that has boosted the market economy, immigration was also enforced because of the promise of a better life in America. Despite the pros that industrialization gave, there were also cons. Urbanization happened, which is basically people flocking into cities to be nearer to their jobs. The effects of urbanization are ill, as they promoted denser populations in smaller areas. The working conditions of the industrialization age were also subpar, as they really exploited the workers during that time in order to conserve the capital (which in turn gave way to nativist sentiments). The quality of life, basically, has gotten bad. Industrialization also promoted mass production, and artisanship became rarer and rarer. Now, the nativists’ reaction to all of this was natural. The immigrants posed a threat to their resources. They, the ones who made the country, the ones who tilled the land, the ones who provided the opportunities for the immigrants. They have the right to be possessive as they were the ones who made everything happen. It seemed like their hard work is being thrown at these people. Because of these, the people saw Industrialization as a negative thing, even if it did give opportunities for economic and labor growth, not to mention population growth. Their reaction was similar to a mother’s instinct when someone is threatening her offspring. However, America is a country and they were discriminating races; this is unethical, although it did protect the interests of the American people, such as jobs, space and resources. The same thing is actually happening now, with the BPO sector. The United States is also prohibiting some companies to put up BPOs in third world countries, as they feel that these BPOs in other countries are robbing the Americans jobs that are supposed to be for them. History, indeed, repeats itself. References: Boyer, et al. The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People, vol. 1: To 1877 Wadsworth/Cengage Learning: Boston, MA, 2011. Cobbs Hoffman, Elizabeth and Jon Gjerde. Major Problems in American History, vol. 1, to 1877. Boston, MA: Houghton-Mifflin, 2012. Gross, Brands Breen Williams. American Stories. New Jersey: Pearson Education,        2009. Print. Read More