The industrial revolution changed America, as we know it today. Advancements in technology brought on new inventions that made life easier. It lead to large businesses, more labor and a higher class of life. However, the industrial revolution brought on many struggles to many Americans. In the end, the consequences overshadowed the positives, poverty, monopolies, and bad working conditions were major effects; the industrial revolution brought more harm than good.
As mega businesses were rising they turned to cheap labor to make more profit, this caused many families to earn little wage causing them to go into poverty. Some may say, “You have no right to be poor. It’s your own duty to be rich…” according to Russell Conwell’s Acres of Diamonds or some believe that life revolves around “survival of the fittest” and that the superior groups out compete the inferior ones. Jacob A. Rius wrote in The Working Girls of New York, how two half fed girls came in looking for domestic service, so that they can feed themselves; he explained it as though “poverty be the price of her independence.” Many working families and immigrants did not have the opportunity or time to go out and make something of themselves. Instead they had to accept low pay jobs from these huge businesses caused by the industrial revolution to buy food so their families wont starve at the end of the day.
As businesses got bigger, monopolies were created which means a single company can take over an entire industry leaving little companies to struggle. Senator John Sherman felt threatened by the idea of monopolies, so he wrote the Sherman Anti-Trust Act that broke up monopolies and new political ideas which was written in A People’s History of the United States, “Robber Barons and Rebels” by Howard Zinn. Monopolies caused little companies to struggle, which made rural workers move to urban areas and seek low wage jobs with these huge companies because they lost their own job.
The industrial revolution brought new unfair, poor, dangerous working conditions. In the video the American Experience: The Triangle Fire by PBS, workers had to endure poor working conditions, where they worked 14 hours a day for only $2, and were not allowed to take a break, drink, or go to the bathroom. The triangle workers were not the only people to work in these conditions other factory workers, miners, and railroad workers had even worse conditions then these. The industrial revolution even cost peoples lives because of such terrible working conditions.
As mega businesses were rising they turned to cheap labor to make more profit, this caused many families to earn little wage causing them to go into poverty. Some may say, “You have no right to be poor. It’s your own duty to be rich…” according to Russell Conwell’s Acres of Diamonds or some believe that life revolves around “survival of the fittest” and that the superior groups out compete the inferior ones. Jacob A. Rius wrote in The Working Girls of New York, how two half fed girls came in looking for domestic service, so that they can feed themselves; he explained it as though “poverty be the price of her independence.” Many working families and immigrants did not have the opportunity or time to go out and make something of themselves. Instead they had to accept low pay jobs from these huge businesses caused by the industrial revolution to buy food so their families wont starve at the end of the day.
As businesses got bigger, monopolies were created which means a single company can take over an entire industry leaving little companies to struggle. Senator John Sherman felt threatened by the idea of monopolies, so he wrote the Sherman Anti-Trust Act that broke up monopolies and new political ideas which was written in A People’s History of the United States, “Robber Barons and Rebels” by Howard Zinn. Monopolies caused little companies to struggle, which made rural workers move to urban areas and seek low wage jobs with these huge companies because they lost their own job.
The industrial revolution brought new unfair, poor, dangerous working conditions. In the video the American Experience: The Triangle Fire by PBS, workers had to endure poor working conditions, where they worked 14 hours a day for only $2, and were not allowed to take a break, drink, or go to the bathroom. The triangle workers were not the only people to work in these conditions other factory workers, miners, and railroad workers had even worse conditions then these. The industrial revolution even cost peoples lives because of such terrible working conditions.
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