Industrialization

Industrialization

Industrialization has historians recall it as a period of rapid industrial growth in the United States of America. Indeed it was a period of hope as many people were able to find jobs, and this led to the growth of a robust United States Economy. All these good that is related to industrialization from 1865came at the expense of the minority groups at the time. America has a long history of slavery. People were being bought and owned by the majority group as part of their workforce at home. America had and still has so many social inequalities as people of color came from the poor states south of the country (Mother Jones).  They formed the bulk of the unskilled laborers who worked in these industries. They were paid very little at the time when they came to work in these industries. In this case, they couldn’t afford to rent houses in the city that they worked in. They thus resided in shanty houses just on the periphery of the city to be able to cope up to live within their salaries.

During this period of mass immigration, when people were moving from the poor states south of the country to the Northern states, it was clear that they were all looking for better livelihoods. Immigrants formed a large majority of these people, and it is approximated that they formed about a third of the working population at that time. This is the first generation of immigrants that started the industrial revolution at the time between the 1880s. The second generation of all these immigrants later came in the 1920s, and they formed about two-thirds of the working population back then. The whites at this time we’re going for the skilled jobs, which thus left room for social division and exploitation of the minority groups and thus is when people started fighting back..

The industrial sector was never as refined as they now look. During this period of rapid expansion, people were working in dangerous occupations just to makes a living. Sadly, the victims of such ignorance were mostly nonwhites who came to work in factories as unskilled laborers. Low in the ranking order, they provided cheap labor for all these industries, but their welfare was largely ignored by many (Scranton, Philip). As a result of such deplorable conditions, many of the people started protesting and demanding better welfares in their places of work. Miners were one of the hard-hit as the working condition in mines led to the increased growth of several respiratory diseases and other associated health complications among the workers during this time. Alice Hamilton, a great physician at the time, explored the dangerous trade at the time, and he and other miners and workers who were working under very bad conditions decided to start a movement that could support the workers demand better working conditions from the government.  It is said that the government allowed for such business to be run at the time, ignoring the working conditions of all these people who needed this essential equipment to protect them against pneumonia and carbon dioxide poisoning for the case of miners, for example.

Workers’ welfares was a key issue during the industrialization period. They protested against being taken seriously as members of a country deserved well than what they were getting at the time. For many of the minority groups, they had to battle for their existence as they were not welcomed in the city life. Whites have stereotyped such minority groups to be people who were not skilled enough to be employed. They were thus regarded as a threat to them as they could only associate them with poverty at that time. Fear arose during this period of great migration among the whites. They feared that their wealth was at risk of this influx of people who were invading their city ( Lumen). African Black American men were thus regarded as thieves during this period, and this is also the same narrative that the police regarded to be true in their might. This led to social segregation between whites and blacks. The blacks were secluded to their living residence, where they were under surveillance form the police at that time. Although to some extent, crime levels in such neighborhoods where the blacks were secluded were very high as compared to white backgrounds, this was when the racial stereotypes started holding water against such minority groups.

It is important to understand that during the great migration, people who were living in the countryside mostly were traditional farmers who could farm their lands just for subsistence. Tough economic times led to them abandoning their trade to come to the big cities in such jobs in the industrial sectors (Kalamazoo Gazette). People could migrate with their whole families to come to cities like New York in such greener pastures only to be shocked by further social challenges at that time. The men who were successful in getting the jobs worked in the industries while the women were left at home. Women started their trade, which could later come to form the current hospitality industry that we now have. Many jobs at that time were male-dominated. This left women with very little options to exploit during this period. Some skillful women started offering catering services to the men who worked in these industries at the time.  They could make their meals from home and then come and sell them to the workers who were working in the industries. They thrived by offering affordable meals to this workforce, and this is how they helped out their husbands meet their financial obligation at the time. It is important to understand that this informal sector was not also well regulated. Still, it offered a platform for women empowerment during this period when they were not even seen as men equals.

Industrialization in America was sparked by the acquisition of key infrastructures form the hands of the Hawaiian governments (Alice Hamilton). The annexation of Hawaii in 1898 led to the acquiring of ports, buildings, harbors, military equipment, and public property by the United States government. This was a major turning point to doing business as this created more routes for the sale of products that are made in the United States—having a strong market that consumes the products that are produced in the industries in the essence of the supply and demand in business. The American population had not sored that much during this period, but it was at this point that they had to compete with other superpowers in show of might. Other countries tried this, and it was successful in Europe, which was the home of American Colonizers Great Britain.

In conclusion, the industrial revolution of the United States came at a cost. The minorities in the country paid the highest price just for not being skilled enough for the jobs that they were doing. Such tough circumstances are what have built the robust industrial sector that is now thriving in the United States market. The Latinos, Asians. African Black American people still form the bulk of the poor people of the United States. History is still rewriting itself, but there is still room for improvement regarding such minority groups. Wage gap issues are still a problem for the female genders as they are considered to be still inferior even though they worked even twice as hard as their male counterparts. Such inequalities are not good in our current civilized systems, which champions equal rights for both the male and female genders. Industries are built based on a skilled and unskilled workforce. Opportunities for equal employment is what has led to the growth of the economy to be what it is looking like at current. Imagine what this country has managed to do with just half its workforce and what can be done when all the workforce, which will include both the genders, what this country can be able to achieve. It will all start with the small baby steps that people will take to achieve equality of both the genders in the workplace to spearhead the country to an even greater level than it is. History should remember this lot as the people who acted to change the course of the country and it can be done.

Works Cited

Alice Hamilton. “The Poisonous Occupations in Illinois”: Physician Alice Hamilton Explores the “Dangerous Trades” at the Turn of the Century.” History Matters: The U.S. Survey Course on the Web, 1943, historymatters.gmu.edu/d/105/.

Kalamazoo Gazette. “Our Great American Heritage.” Our Great American Heritage – “Looking Beneath the Surface for the Truth in History.”, 1900, www.ourgreatamericanheritage.com/2018/03/misery-and-workplace-accidents-the-price-paid-for-industrial-america/.

Lumen. “American Imperialism | Boundless US History.” Lumen Learning – Simple Book Production, 2020, courses.lumenlearning.com/boundless-ushistory/chapter/american-imperialism/. Accessed 22 Mar. 2020.

Mother Jones,. “Agitation – The Greatest Factor for Progress | Mother Jones (March 24, 1903).” History Is A Weapon, 24 Mar. 1903, www.historyisaweapon.com/defcon1/motherjonesprogress.html. Accessed 22 Mar. 2020.

Scranton, Philip. Endless novelty: Specialty production and American industrialization, 1865-1925. Princeton University Press, 2000.