The Civil War, Reconstruction & Industrial Revolution

United States History

The Industrial Revolution

-took place during the late 18th centuries and early 19th centuries due to monumental advancements in manufacturing technologies.

-Major change in the structure of society due to technology, new metalworking techniques and machines, cotton gin, steam engine, coal burning engines, etc.

What were the major effects of industrialization?

-People moving from the country into the city because that's where the machines were, and in turn where the jobs were

-Vast growth and improvement of roadways, waterways, and railways to ship goods

-The emergence and rise of the middle class, wealth no longer depended on owning land, you could be a skilled laborer, invest in new technologies, etc.

-Increased dependence on foreign trade

What is the wage labor system?

the idea that people would be trained for a job and paid an hourly wage to do that job. Prior to this, people would get money for producing and selling a good, not for hours of work. 

What led to immigration to the US?

-The promise of jobs, especially railroad jobs, following the Industrial Revolution led to waves of immigration during the 19th century,

Nativism

the idea that a group of people who moved to a new place are now natives, but the next group of immigrants is encroaching on their land and jobs

led to a lot of racial animosity because there was a lot of competition to get jobs

What group was there a lot of collective animosity towards during the Industrial Revolution?

Asians

Chinese Exclusion Act

excluded people from China from being able to immigrate to the US

Gentleman’s Agreement

between US and Japan, not a formal exclusion but asks Japan to restrict their own people from moving to the US

Monroe Doctrine

-Introduced in 1823, the Monroe Doctrine asserted U.S. power by forbidding further European colonization or interference in the Americas. 

-America took control of the Western Hemisphere, Europe can't interfere with governments or economies of North and South America.