Topics: How did warfare promote the growth of industrialism in the US?

What is industrialism? Definition: Industrialism is a social and economic system characterized by large factories, machine production of goods, and concentration of workers in cities.

Early on in its history, the US was a farming nation. These farms were mostly self- sufficient, producing almost everything needed on site. The few items they could not produce were bought from local merchants. Since America had no major factories, all industrially produced goods were imported from the first nation in the world to build factories: Great Britain.

After fighting wars with Britain in the Revolution and the War of 1812, though, large-scale imports slowed to a trickle. America was forced to begin building its own factories. That process was accelerated by the start of the US Civil War. Why?

Rule #1: PROGRESS DOESN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT CASH. THE MORE CASH, THE GREATER THE PROGRESS. During the Civil War, the US government was willing to contribute millions of dollars to building new factories to supply soldiers, and even more money to building railroads to transport them.

Rule #2: SOLDIERS NEED STUFF! Over 3 million men fought in the Civil War, and every one of them had to be fed, armed, equipped, and transported.

So during the Civil War, demand for quickly produced, government financed goods exploded, and more and more factories were built to meet the demand.

Why did the building of factories and railroads continue after the Civil War ended? After the war was over, factory and railroad owners switched to working for civilians rather than the military. Instead of making military uniforms, textile mills made overcoats. Instead of transporting cannons, railroads transported crops. Instead of hauling soldiers to the battle front, trains moved passengers from city to city.

And right after the Civil War, massive numbers of European immigrants flowed into the US. These people needed clothes and transportation as well. But the thing they needed most was FOOD. This increased demand led to greater growth of food processing plants.

New farm machinery was developed as well, which contributed to the growth of factories. Before the Civil War, people plowed fields with hand-made bull tongue plows. After the Civil War, factories churned out big numbers of new steel farm Machines, like the McCormick reapers.

Harvesting wheat before the US Civil War.

Harvesting wheat with a factory-produced John Deere tractor and McCormick reaper.

This new machinery helped farmers produce even more food, and to grow more crops, which increased demand for these factory-produced machines.

What powered these new factories? What made the machines work? COAL! And lots of it.

Machines were moved by steam created by the burning of coal. This in turn created huge demand for coal mines in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Kentucky.

What were the effects? Good: *A lot of people made a lot of money. *A huge number of people had jobs, and without industrialization, they wouldn’t have. *America eventually became the greatest producer in the world, and the strongest nation in History.

Bad results: *Most of the jobs created were dangerous and very low-paying. *Coal plants poured pollution into the atmosphere and surrounding areas. *Railroad and factory owners became so wealthy that some became corrupt and used their money to buy off elected officials.

Still, without industrialization, America wouldn’t be the strong, wealthy nation that it is today.

Overview: The US Civil War promoted the growth of industrialization by creating a sudden, massive demand for factory produced goods and transportation. The factories and railroads created as a result of this demand were aided by a government willing to spend large amounts of money to win the war. After the Civil War, military factories changed over to producing consumer goods such as clothing and farm machinery. These factories supplied lots of people with jobs, but most of them were dangerous and low-paying.

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