Introduction
In the late 19th century, many changes happened within America. This was an era of rapid growth leading to industrialization, immigration, and urbanization. However, before the transformation, most Americans lived a simple life in which they made their necessities and grew their food. The essay examines the relationships between industrialization, immigration, and the urbanization process to one. Further, the essay determines how each process serves to catalyze and fuel the others and whether the emergent consumer culture changed what it meant to be American.
The Relationships of Industrialization, Immigration, and Urbanization Process
Industrialization is approximately synonymous with the construction of factories in the country. People migrated to be closer to the industrial units, building up towns and cities in the process known as urbanization. Industrialization contributed to the manufacturing of new products and the invention of new technologies. Consequently, the new technology resulted in more industrialization and advancements as many people started to relocate to urban areas in search of employment and other amenities that come with industrialization and urbanization1. Most American and immigrants moved to see what was going on in the cities.
Furthermore, industrialization, immigration, and urbanization are all intimately connected. In the late 1780s, England was the first nation to industrialize on a large scale. In a bid to replace the agricultural-centered division of labor in industry, a manufacturing-centered division was established2. Countries supported industrialization as it improved production speed and the movement of people. After a focus on production, what followed was mass immigration to urban areas in which manufacturing were feasible resulting in urbanization. However, because of the large number of industries, many people abandoned their agricultural lifestyles and preferred living in the cities and towns. London and New York become popular sites for immigrants looking for work due to industrialization3. The industrial revolution ultimately transformed American life and culture during the time. However, the introduction of factories leads to things starting to change. The industrial revolution to Americans was a watershed moment in that era4. Most Americans were looking for means of making their daily lives simple; the many inventions in the period did to fulfill it.
How Each Process Serves To Catalyze and Fuel the Others
The industrial revolution induced the immigration movement and urbanization that occurred in America. The increase in job opportunities implied a rise in the number of employees; it led to the expansion of cities to accommodate both the employees and the factories. Many people asserted that steel production was the most significant advancement during the period as it was replacing iron. Steel was seen to be stronger and more durable than iron. The US became a leader in steel production in the 1900s globally, which ultimately contributed to its new industrial age. The new processes in refining steel together with inventions in the areas of electricity and communications changed the business landscape in the 19th century5. The new technologies’ exploitation offered opportunities for business entrepreneurs with financial support and rapid growth, and the right blend of business ambition and acumen could lead to fortunes.
Accordingly, most people had to leave their self-employed work and began working in the factories. Further, it opened opportunities to women who secured a job in textile companies in which they started generating money and reduced their dependence on men6. The new technologies and inventions induced an interest in most people in overseas nations that were looking for better avenues, and most of them opted to migrate to the United States, where there was the best alternative.
Furthermore, immigration played a critical role in the country’s growth. Millions of migrants who arrived in the country were searching for jobs and freedoms that lacked in their countries. The immigrants were ready to work for long hours and paid short wages, an alternative most American business owners longed for during the era. American businesspeople could hire immigrants for factory work, waiters, janitors, and cooks, and later they become the key source of the workforce in most areas. Immigrants contributed to American economic growth and flourishing by having to do several jobs that other individuals declined to do or did not see any need of doing them. It is noted that more than 80% of black American men worked manual jobs in the mines, steel mills, meatpacking, and construction7. Nevertheless, they were employed as domestic servants and house cleaners.
Immigrants in the United States assisted build the country better, as they aided the economy and business owners improved production and led to business growth. In doing so, they helped expand the nation physically through urbanization as the population increased the need for shelter, food, hospital, education, and other amenities. Immigrants shifted to America because of the large number of job opportunities being created and the required people to do them. Subsequently, the action contributed to cities and towns beginning to grow; it accelerated the growth of urbanization in the country. Urbanization occurred faster during the second half of the 19th century in the US for many reasons. The new technologies in the era resulted in a massive increase in industrialization, needing many employees. Employees were compelled into unconducive 12-hour shifts, requiring them to reside near the factories8. Hence, working conditions during the industrial revolution resulted in the deterioration of many immigrants’ life in the cities.
The Emergent Consumer Culture Change
During the era of the turn of the century, the meaning associated with being American transformed from living a rural life to living urban life culture. Mass production of products made many more affordable goods and because people had regular work, they had cash to spend. During the industrial revolution century, Americans lived more comfortably during the change. The innovation of many things, such as the telephone and electricity, assisted bring an increase to other innovations that would create their life simpler9. Each action during the era had a response associated with it often, recognized when they looked back to their old ways and witnessed how fast life transformed during the Industrialization Age.
The emergent consumer culture changed what it meant to be American during the century as most Americans were now accustomed to eating processed foods. To be an American at the turn of the century was just about becoming like everybody else. Things were relatively cheaper; hence, they were easier to access at any given level of income and anywhere in the country10. People had greater selection, easier access, and enhance products at lower prices implying that even lower class with low income Americans, whether shopping through mail order and in rural, or urban and buying in large supermarkets and departmental outlets, had more alternatives11. The increased alternatives contributed to an increase in advertising, as companies competed for clients.
Conclusion
Industrialization resulted in the construction of factories that compelled people to migrate and be closer to the factories. It later contributed to the establishment of cities through a process known as urbanization. The industrial revolution prompted American urbanization and immigration, where job opportunities in the factories implied more people; hence, cities had to establish for both people and jobs to be accommodated. America is currently the way it is due to the innovations that occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries.
Works Cited
Fischer, Eileen, and John F. Sherry. “Reading New Currents in Consumer Culture Theory.” Contemporary Consumer Culture Theory, 2017, 1-2. Web.
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!, 6th ed. New York: W. W. Norton, 2019.
Helfand, Lewis. The Industrial Revolution, 3rd ed. Washington: National Geographic Books, 2017.
R Pandya, Shivani. “2020- The Era of Inventions.” Nanomedicine & Nanotechnology Open Access 5, no. 3 (2020), 313-328. Web.
Riesman, David, and Anselm L. Strauss. The American City: A Sourcebook of Urban Imagery, 7th ed. London: Routledge, 2017.
Zenghelis, Dimitri. “Cities, Wealth, and the Era of Urbanization.” Oxford Scholarship Online 3, no. 2 (2017), 1-18. Web.
Zinn, Howard. “A People’s History of the United States.” 2022. Web.
Footnotes
- Lewis Helfand, The Industrial Revolution (Washington: National Geographic Books, 2017), 6.
- David Riesman and Anselm L. Strauss, The American City: A Sourcebook of Urban Imagery (London: Routledge, 2017), 12.
- Dimitri Zenghelis, “Cities, Wealth, and the Era of Urbanization,” Oxford Scholarship Online 3, no. 2 (2017): 10. Web.
- Shivani R Pandya, “2020- The Era of Inventions,” Nanomedicine & Nanotechnology Open Access 5, no. 3 (2020): 320. Web.
- Helfand, The Industrial Revolution, 13.
- Howard Zinn, “A People’s History of the United States,” last modified 2022. Web.
- Zenghelis, ” Cities, Wealth, and the Era of Urbanization,” 15.
- Riesman and Strauss, The American City: A Sourcebook of Urban Imagery, 28.
- R Pandya, “2020- The Era of Inventions,” 324.
- Eric Foner, Give Me Liberty! (New York: W. W. Norton, 2019), 32.
- Eileen Fischer and John F. Sherry, “Reading New Currents in Consumer Culture Theory,” Contemporary Consumer Culture Theory, 2017, 2. Web.