Why is it an “Industrial Revolution?” Mr. Bach United States History

Factors Influencing Industrialization Availability of Resources –Coal –Iron Ore –Limestone –Oil Transportation and Communication network to unite the country

Factors Influencing Industrialization Culture of Entrepreneurship –Puritan Work Ethic –American ideal of opportunity Culture of Exploration and Discovery –American inventiveness

Factors Influencing Industrialization Favorable Government Actions –Laissez-Faire Policies –Protective Tariff –Support for limited liability (corporate model) –Corporate Welfare (railroad land grants) –Patent Protection –Favor business in labor disputes

The Effects of Industrialization Wealthy Americans –Robber Barons vs. Captains of Industry –Concentration of wealth in the upper class –“New Money” –Immortal Corporate Powers –Social Darwinism vs. Philanthropy

The Effects of Industrialization Middle Class –Enjoyed an increasingly comfortable lifestyle (products, living conditions) –Educational opportunities expanded (for men and women)

The Effects of Industrialization Working Class –Suffered from laissez- faire policies –“Wage Slavery” –Great victims of the Boom/Bust Cycle –Growth of a labor union movement (varying in moderate to radical demands) –Still have hope of generational social mobility

The Effects of Industrialization Farmers –Commercialized and Mechanized Agriculture (less need for labor) –Increasingly dependent on the railroad industry for bringing goods to market –Increasingly part of a national economy –Subject to the boom/bust cycle as well

The Effects of Industrialization The New Immigration –Better chance for economic mobility in America than in the Old World –Encounter discrimination which causes many to band together into ethnic neighborhoods –Further depress wages due to inflow of new workers

The Effects of Industrialization The Growth of Cities –Steam power allows factories to be located in new areas –Great migration from rural to urban within U.S. –Laissez-faire policies make cities dangerous places to live –Political corruption is rampant within city government

The Effects of Industrialization Gender Relationships –Middle/Upper Class Men – Social Darwinistic Struggle Office work while trying to maintain rugged manliness (YMCA) –Middle/Upper Class Women – Victorian Model (keepers of the home as a refuge) Resistance: Female Reformers and College Graduates (Outside world would benefit from female morality) Increasing availability of contraception (later Margaret Sanger) –Working Class Men and Women – aspiring to the middle-class model while trying to survive

The Effects of Industrialization United States as a Whole –Emergence on the world stage as an economic (and military) power –Pattern of rural  urban migration that continues to this day –“Up by the bootstraps” idea –Increasing comfort/uneasiness with class division –Economic Interests vs. Environment Concerns

But what about this interpretation? Billy Madison: Ahem, Uh… Ok. The industrial revolution to me is just like a story I know called “The Puppy Who Lost his Way.” The world was changing and the puppy was... getting … bigger. … So you see the puppy was like industry in that they were both lost in the woods. And nobody, especially the little boy - society – knew where to find him. Except that the puppy was a dog, but the industry my friends – that was a revolution. Principal: Mr. Madison, what you've just said is one of the most insanely idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rational thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.