Just in taking a look at the land surrounding oneself, the effects of industrialization are evident through the high-rise buildings, roadways filled with cars, and stores filled with consumer goods. With Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin in 1793, the construction of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad beginning in 1828, or Samuel Slater establishing “America’s first factory in 1790 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island”, there is a glimpse at how the landscape and economic power of the United States would be world changing. (Foner, 331) Industrial feats such as these, along with canals, interchangeable parts, and ironclad ships, would transform warfare and combat in a way not anticipated as the nation prepared for the impending Civil War. In a way the Civil War can be seen as a battle between the old world and modern ideals as the power of the Union’s factories and infrastructure took on the slave powered, agricultural Confederacy. Had the Confederate States won the battle, one can only image the difference in landscape and world dynamic that would have prevailed throughout American history. The Union victory and the power of technology within illustrated the ability for the US to modernize, invent, and thrive into the country that it is today. Hand in hand with John Smith’s capitalism, and the innovation that came with, the wealth and opportunity of the United States emerged
Just in taking a look at the land surrounding oneself, the effects of industrialization are evident through the high-rise buildings, roadways filled with cars, and stores filled with consumer goods. With Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin in 1793, the construction of the Baltimore and Ohio railroad beginning in 1828, or Samuel Slater establishing “America’s first factory in 1790 in Pawtucket, Rhode Island”, there is a glimpse at how the landscape and economic power of the United States would be world changing. (Foner, 331) Industrial feats such as these, along with canals, interchangeable parts, and ironclad ships, would transform warfare and combat in a way not anticipated as the nation prepared for the impending Civil War. In a way the Civil War can be seen as a battle between the old world and modern ideals as the power of the Union’s factories and infrastructure took on the slave powered, agricultural Confederacy. Had the Confederate States won the battle, one can only image the difference in landscape and world dynamic that would have prevailed throughout American history. The Union victory and the power of technology within illustrated the ability for the US to modernize, invent, and thrive into the country that it is today. Hand in hand with John Smith’s capitalism, and the innovation that came with, the wealth and opportunity of the United States emerged