Industrialization : Effects on American Life - Essay Example

The period from 1870-1914 is regarded in history as the period of industrialization. United Kingdom was the first country to industrialize, and this was a result of the industrial revolution that commenced in the 18th century. Industrialization also brought about a change in the philosophical views of the people; it led to ubiquitous rationalization. The society extensively got organized for manufacturing process as a result of industrialization. United States is the country that sustained the advancements gained through industrialization and kept the momentum of growth throughout the years that came by.

This can be termed as the sole reason for the US being the world superpower. United States today is the centre of international trade and commerce, research and development, education etc. It is the global leader in every aspect, outraging number of European and Asian powers. As Baker (n. d) points out, industrial revolution arched the industrialization of the society with division of labor, specialization and mechanization being its three major aspects, and this provided for the adoption and expansion of assembly line and mass production in industries.

As a result of industrialization, such efficient and cheap methods of production came into existence, which was why costs of production greatly reduced. The benefactors of this were really the people. Many products which were earlier not affordable became thinkable for them. For example, the innovation ‘Model T’, the moving assembly line, introduced by Henry Ford was a revolutionary movement in the automobile industry which greatly simplified the whole process of production. This emphatically debased the expenditure of making cars.

Thus cars were available at a comparatively cheaper rate in the markets, thus making them affordable for many people, especially the people who were then called middle-class people. The turnover brought in by Henry Ford is termed by many historians as a more important advancement than the socialist revolution led by Lenin. According Backer (n.d), another development that USA gained as part of industrialization was a subtle improvement in the system of transportation. Industrialization caused a westward shift of US’s economic centre and caused a progressive furtherance in the domestic transport systems, because the increased volume of manufactured goods demanded it.

This proved as an advantage for the people too as there were amazing upbeats in the public transportation facilities too. As noted by Mcllwraith and Muller (2001), the industrialization process was backed with initiatives for expanding the transportation channels and eventually grew as the most efficient transportation systems of the world; and new modes of transportation(steamboats, canals, turnpike roads, and railroads) bought the existing ecumene more bonded (p. 190). In case of roads, emergence of express highways greatly improved traveling within the country and brought in a huge decrease in the time difference in traveling between various parts of the country.

For example, during the beginning of industrialization, farmers in the eastern parts of the country were able to sell their products to better markets in the west with convenient expenditures which became possible due to advancement in transportation. Along with a number of advantages, industrialization brought about some negative implications too. Most important of this was environmental issues. This