Technological Innovations In The Gilded Age

The 18th century marked the beginning of an intense period of revolution and rebellion as the nation started to expand into newly established territories earn from the Mexican-American War. In the process, many Americans were encouraged to move west where debates over slavery and other economic issues rose that led the nation into Civil War. After the Union’s victory in the Civil War, many African-Americans slaves were finally now free while the South faced sets of challenges during the contested Reconstruction Era in 1865. Roughly spanning the years between Reconstruction and the dawn of the new century, the Gilded Age saw rapid industrialization such as the construction of great transcontinental railroads and the rise of big businesses as money maker of America’s economic growth. However, not only did it changed how goods were manufactured and consumed, but it also had far-reaching effects on societal groups and rising labor union tensions by the end of the 19th century.

In the book “The Gilded Age and Progressive Era” William explained that the introduction of railroads brought about the expansion of the United States. The engine of the new industrialized economy, eased the fast transportation of raw materials and finished goods from one part of the country to the other. As the railroads grew in power, it increased the economy of the country. He further explained that the problem the economy was facing is that workers were maltreated. They were forced to work in bad weather conditions and were paid very

Before the 1860s U.S. railroads were inefficient for big business to explode, and shipping goods wasn’t as easy before Cornelius Vanderbilt organized a steam ship company. He also controlled all lines of railroad linking New York to the Great Lakes. His strategy was to create a monopoly to gain wealth and power of all the effective railroad lines into one major company. He expressed competition and set unfair prices for the workers. The workers soon revolted and went on strike in 1877 due to the low pay and increase of work hours.

The rapid industrialization of the United States brought many changes to its people. New technologies, inventions, and the railroad brought better fuels, stronger steels, changed the way people lit their homes, and even changed the way people did their shopping. The integrated railroad was especially exciting, because it would allow people to move from the west coast to the east coast as they pleased. Economic development was also on the rise, especially in the west. Americans were excited to discover and tame the “wild west”, eager to claim a piece of land that they could call their own.

Transportation vastly improved in the early 1800s. As production increased, people needed faster and easier ways to transport their product. In the early 1800s, the steam locomotive was a huge advancement. “In the early 1800s, pioneers like George Stephenson developed steam-powered locomotives to pull carriages along iron rails” (202). This was a big advancement because a railroad track did not have to follow a river.

This episode begins at the end of the civil war. Right as Abraham Lincoln is shot and killed. America is at its lowest and has no leaders so they need people to step up and take action. So that's what Cornelius Vanderbilt did. When he was young Vanderbilt asked for a $100 loan from his mother so he could buy him a ferry.

The Gilded Age was a time in US history that should be celebrated at as a time of growth and development. The new industry in the Gilded Age led to a more improved US economy. The rise of powerful businessmen was huge in the growth of the American economy. The immigration of many Europeans and migration of African Americans helped the industry grow and advance.

To say the time period following the Civil War in the United States involved a lot of change would be a understatement. Between the years 1870 and 1900 the people of the United States lived through a period of great change. Not only did they witness technological advances that would change their daily lives, they also saw new laws and organizations formed. All of this was done in hopes of improving the country. Many of these changes came about because of the type of businesses that were formed.

Technological innovations, such as the transcontinental railroad in the United States, forced society to reevaluate the role of government. The most obvious repercussion of the construction of the railroads in America is the control of ecosystem services such as land and agriculture. Railroads were sloppy; they did not care for where they were placed, unless it maximized profit; it did not care for the impact on society and it blurred the lines of government intervention in public and private enterprises. Thus, the transcontinental railroad transformed the political system by creating a modern corporate lobby.

I believe that the industrial revolution was beginning of what we now consider modern society; however, this came with a significant impact on the economic, social, and cultural aspects of the time. To better understand the economic, social, and cultural changes that the industrial revolution brought on, a brief history and explanation of industrial revolution and its keep parts is needed. The industrial revolution which began in Europe and Britain in the late 1700, most manufacturing was completed using simple machines and hand tools using human muscle. As the world population grew, more items were required such as clothes and bedding which took a significant amount of time and skill to weave by hand.

Even though the railroad existed before the great division between the north and the south and it mainly contributed in providing goods for both sides, the invention of the railroad greatly contributed to the civil war. The first railroad created in the US was in 1827 and their major role was to transport goods from the North to the South and back. As slaves became more abundant in the South and less present in the North a war began on the idea of slavery. The railroad caused this Civil War by bringing goods to only one side and keeping their advantage. It went from having different point of views to all out battles that started with starvation and isolation, but led to death and separation.

Late 19th century, the United States became the leading industrial nation in the world which transformed the national economy of the nation during the period called Gilded Age. The most influential development of this era were the new inventions of the inventors, who invented new ideas and new products which led to a rise of big business. The inventors mostly controlled the nationwide industries, factories and had much control over the government and people who owned small business. Because of these new inventions the American life was changed and there was a drastic growth in the urban areas, there were significant changes in the transportation, agriculture, communication, and there was a demand in the labor union because of the newly built factories and industries. The life of this era was seemed to be constantly in motion as big businesses were rising and the life of every American got busier and busier because of the newly invented products.

Looking at the pace of development and rapid industrialization of the United States in the late Nineteenth century, we can figure out and sort many major and minor contributing factors aiding the industrialization process. Keeping all the factors and conditions into consideration, first thing is the mechanization of Labor force. The division of labor eventually facilitated production by reducing the producing cost. The labor force that built America during the late nineteenth century was comprised of primarily the immigrants. The contribution of many inventors and scientist, including gasoline powered automobiles, advanced coal engines, the telephone and the typewriter and many more advanced railways that helped to connect the entire US played a significant function in manufacturing, producing and whole industrialization process.