The beginnings of the American Industrial Revolution
Abstract
The Industrial Revolution (Second Industrial Revolution) is one of the most critical periods in United States history. This period witnessed radical industrial changes and innovations. Although historical text alludes that U.S. industrialization took place between 1820 and 1870, evidence suggests otherwise. First remnants of industrialization suggest that the revolution began in the 1790s when Samuel Slater launched the first water-powered textile mill. The machine significantly increased the speed with which cotton was spun into yarn. In the following years, other inventors such as Eli Whitney and Francis Lowell launched technologies that revolutionized manufacturing. Soon other inventions in the transport and communication fields followed. The transport sector saw the invention of the steamboat that facilitated the movement of goods and people. The Erie Canal was also completed in the same period. The canal facilitated the more accessible transportation of raw materials and final products in the Northeast region. In the later stages, the revolution saw the expansion of road transit with the Cumberland Road sanctioned in 1811, becoming the first national road. The communications revolution saw the telegraph’s invention in 1836, which facilitated the transmission of text messages over long distances.
The beginnings of the American Industrial Revolution
Introduction
The Industrial Revolution, sometimes referred to as the First Industrial Revolution, witnessed significant industrial changes and innovations in the early 1800s. The revolution began in the U.K. before quickly spreading to other parts of the world. Britain’s industrial revolution oversaw the emergence of steam, coal, and Water as reliable sources of power that helped establish the nation as the global textile market leader. The American Industrial Revolution (Second Industrial Revolution), on the other hand, began sometime between 1820 and 1870, according to most historical accounts. However, the first vestiges of industrialization started in 1790 with Samuel Slater, who launched the first water-powered industrial mill in Rhode Island (Klein, 2019). Slater’s textile factory design borrowed heavily from the British model and increased the speech through which cotton could be spun into yarn.
The second industrialization involved significant changes in agriculture, manufacturing, communications, and transportation; single-handedly transmuted many aspects of everyday Americans’ lives. The U.S. industrialization was mainly necessitated by the rise in productivity, the expansion of most businesses, and corporations’ growth. Higgs (2011) observed that investment in material capital coupled with influence in securing property ownership and contract rights between 1801 and 1835 from the then Chief Justice – John Marshall paved the way for economic growth. A combination of these factors spurred one of the most economic events in U.S. history. This paper will take a closer look at the American Industrial Revolution and the beginnings of the revolution.
The American Industrialization
Ideally, the American Industrial Revolution began with the U.S. entrepreneurs building on the innovations made in the U.K. However; the revolution would not come to full force until the mid-1800s, one inventor by the name Eli Whitney did leave a mark on the emerging country. Whitney discovered the “cotton gin” in 1794; the machine increased the speed through which cotton seeds were separated from the fiber. As a result, the U.S. south significantly increased their supply of cotton, dispatching more unprocessed cotton to the North to be utilized in the production of garments (Grayson, 2011). In the following years, Francis Lowell found a way of improving cloth manufacture efficiency by bringing the processes of weaving and spinning under the same roof. This discovery subsequently led to the explosion and booming of the cloth industry in New England. Whitney also went ahead to make other vital innovations in the subsequent years. In 1798, he came up with the idea of utilizing interchangeable parts to make muskets. He observed that, if machines manufactured standard parts, then their assembly could be much easier and quick at the end. This discovery became a crucial aspect of the American industries and the industrial revolution.
The early stages of the second industrial revolution saw significant advancements in the transportation field. The period witnessed the invention of the steam engine that became a fundamental discovery of the second revolution. Robert Fulton used this invention to developed the first commercial speed boat in 1807. This boat could travel upstream in record time. Steamboats enhanced the transportation of goods and people and, as a result, quickly became one of the most important forces behind the first wave of industrialization in the United States. Additionally, the completion of the Erie Canal opened up transportation between Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. The canal facilitated the easier transportation of raw materials and final products in the Northeast region. In turn, this helped stimulate the economy of New York and establishing it as an important trading center. The success of New York’s “artificial river” marked the beginning of the canal construction boom, and by 1840, Ohio had created water links between the Ohio River and Lake Erie (In Locke & In Wright, 2019). Water transport was not the only transportation mode that grew and expanded in the beginnings of the Second Industrial Revolution; road transit also expanded and began linking different regions together. The Cumberland Road, which became the first American national road, was sanctioned in 1811 and, upon completion, was integrated into Interstate 40 (I-40).
The communications revolution shortly after followed the transportation revolution. The period saw the emergence of the penny press and the electric telegraph. Invented by Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail in 1836, the electrical telegraph facilitated text message transmission over long distances using wire connections. In 1840, Morse patented his invention and three years later convinced the U.S. Congress to fund the telegraph connection stretching from Washington D.C. to Baltimore. The telegraph’s rise took advantage of the railway system’s expansion, with telegraph wire-lines running parallel to the railroads. Telegraph offices were also established almost at every train station in the country. In a couple of years, during the Mexican-American War, the telegraph conveyed the battlefield proceedings’ news to eastern newspapers within a few days. The telegraph remained the preferred mode of communication over long distances for the better part of the 19th Century (Bellis, 2018).
The upshots of the communications and transportation revolution impacted the lives of nearly every American. Farmers who had previously produced food only for their family’s consumption quickly realized the food market. They now generated revenue from the sale of the produce and bought the goods they had previously gone without. Farmers who practiced farming as an economic activity soon got access to credit from eastern banks, which allowed them to grow and expand their businesses. In other regions such as the Midwest and Northeast, where farm labor was insufficient, determined farmers invested in new farming technologies that improved the productivity of inadequate labor supply. The period between 1815 and 1850 witnessed a spontaneous increase in the number of patented agricultural innovations. Among these innovations was the horse-drawn mechanical reaper –invented by Cyrus McCormick, which partially automated the process of harvesting wheat and John Deere’s steel plow, which made it easier to convert a virgin-land into fertile farmland (In Locke & In Wright, 2019).
Conclusion
The American Industrial Revolution marked a period of advancements that transmuted a mostly agricultural society into an urban, industrialized society. The revolution facilitated the introduction of new machines and production methods in clothing, iron making, and other industries. The transport and communications revolution notably led to the growth and expansion of communication and transportation methods. The effects of the second industrial revolution continue to be felt to this day. Although there are debates regarding the distinct aspects of the revolution, including its exact timeline, the fact remains that industrialization set the U.S. economy on a growth trajectory. But most importantly, it played an integral role in establishing U.S. as one of the world’s leading industrial countries.
References
Bellis, M. (2018, March 9). A Look at the 6 Technologies That Revolutionized Communications. Retrieved from Thought Co.: https://www.thoughtco.com/communication-revolution-19th-century-1991936
Grayson, R. (2011). The U.S. industrial revolution. Edina, Minn: ABDO Pub.
Higgs, R. (2011). The transformation of the American economy, 1865-1914: An essay in interpretation. Auburn, Alabama: Ludwig von Mises Institute.
In Locke, J. L., & In Wright, B. (2019). The American yawp: A massively collaborative open U.S. history textbook. Stanford, California: Stanford University Press.
Klein, C. (2019, January 10). The Spies Who Launched America’s Industrial Revolution. Retrieved from History.com: https://www.history.com/news/industrial-revolution-spies-europe