The Second Industrial Revolution

After the Civil War, the U.S. was a nation in need of rebuilding. Though in the rural south this proved difficult, the urban north found it easier to recover. With several patents and technological advancements during the war, a new domestic market was in the making. Several new products were introduced, increasing the need for factory workers to make them, trains to ship them in, and businessmen to sell them. These, along with several others, were all needs that America met with ease, giving way to the second industrial revolution.
In order to properly execute an industrial revolution, there are several factors that a nation must be able to provide. One of the most important ones is cheap labor: factory owners want to pay as little as possible for as much production as they can squeeze out of their workers. Many freed slaves found work in the north, but they were not the main source of cheap labor. In the late 1800s, America began to experience an influx of new immigrants that were travelling from southern …show more content…
Technological advancements made in the Civil War were expanded and used for household products. This allowed small businesses to grow and eventually monopolize their market, in turn making a few people very powerful and successful. The middle class disappeared, being replaced by an enormous lower class and a miniscule upper class that controlled two thirds of the country. Though throughout the revolution many Americans struggled to survive, this nation wouldn’t be what it is today without enduring through this important period in time. The industrialization of America made way for a booming economy and, not long after, an increase in worker’s rights and government regulations. It is through hardship that a nation will either perish or prosper, and the U.S. definitely flourished under the pressure brought on the industrial