How Did New York City Grow During The Second Industrial Revolution

At the turn of the 20th century, America was in the midst of a new era of growth. During the Second Industrial Revolution, millions of Americans saw the rise in technological innovation and the corporation. Those who made it rich in America did so by mass producing goods, like Andrew Carnegie and steel. In New York City, the arrival of thousands of immigrants per day allowed a labor-intensive industry to prop up among a land restricted area. With new inventions and ways to manufacture goods, mass amounts of cheap labor, and a pro-business government the economic conditions involving the garment industry in New York City during the Second Industrial Revolution was one of major, but sometimes volatile, growth with mass inequality.

A great illustration showing the fruits of the Second Industrial Revolution can be seen in the celebration of Henry Hudson and Robert Fulton. New inventions lined the streets of New York from the automobile, the electric lights that illuminated the streets, and the tall skyscrapers. For the textile companies, new inventions could lower the price of production, like the cutter’s knife which allowed for a skilled man to,”cut the pieces for dozens, or even hundreds, of identical garments in just a few strokes” (Von Drehle, 39). Along with the rise of people

In particular, textile industries found themselves in a position where they can acquire a great amount of workers and then pay them a small wage. Because New York City was the destination for many immigrants coming from Europe, the job market for them was competitive. Immigrants arriving in New York found themselves with thousands of other immigrants, and for some, knowing only their native language and being unskilled farmers, had a limited choice of jobs. These characteristics were the easiest to exploit for a textile owner, as they had nowhere else to work and could not afford to