Frontiers of Change by Thomas Cochran is an educational book about early industrialism in America. In the introduction Cochran informs the reader that the coming of industrialism to America is selected as an example of how societies in general evolve new structures, new beliefs, and new patterns of action. People's experiences with life, the knowledge gained by these experiences and people's aspirations all result in new innovations and ways of life(3). Cochran's main thesis stresses that cultural forces shaped the early Republic's economy and the nation's industrial development more than specific individuals or market forces, like labor costs. Cochran argued that many of the new Americans were natural risk takers and that the settlers did not have a strong class based society so that failure was more acceptable and more risks were taken. This was an era that without such risks, new developments and innovations could not have came about.
Cochran also argues that the key to the American economy and industrialization was not production or manufacturing, but rather processing, speed, travel and trade. Of course we can not forget about communication's effect on industrialism. Throughout this book Cochran shows how all of these things helped shape industrialism in early America.
I thought that Frontiers of Change was a good informative book about early industrialism but sometimes the chapters drug on for a little too long. Although this is not a long book by any means it seemed a lot longer than the one hundred or fifty pages or so it is. Being that I am interested in business I did enjoy the two chapters that focused in on businesses and how they worked early on. I found it interesting that businesses were also open to taking risks during ths time period where risks were needed to be taken. Cochran states,"the mobilization of savings through banks, insurance companies, and other means provides the capital necessary for the adoption of new technology or the improvement of services."(17) I could not have agreed more with this statement.
Frontiers of Change provided me with a good deal of information in part because I have never really known too much about this subject before reading this book. I was surprised to learn that Philadelphia had been the economic center of the nation. I also never would of thought that cheap paper would have been one of the major advances industrialization(59).
Nineteenth century industrialism presented the United States with a unique and unprecedented set of problems, as illustrated through the works of Rebecca Harding Davis and Horatio Alger Jr. Although both authors felt compelled to address these problems in their writing, Rebecca Harding Davis’s grasp on the realities faced by the working poor and women was clearly stronger than Alger’s. Not only did Alger possess a naïve view on exactly how much control an individual has over their own circumstances, but he failed to address the struggles of women entirely. As a result, Alger conceived a rather romantic world where the old-fashioned American ideals of hard work, determination, and self-sacrifice enable a young boy to lift himself from poverty.
The Europeans changed the land of the home of the Indians, which they renamed New England. In Changes in the Land, Cronon explains all the different aspects in how the Europeans changed the land. Changing by the culture and organization of the Indians lives, the land itself, including the region’s plants and animals. Cronon states, “The shift from Indian to European dominance in New England entailed important changes well known to historians in the ways these peoples organized their lives, but it also involved fundamental reorganizations less well known to historians in the region’s plant and animal communities,” (Cronon, xv). New England went through human development, environmental and ecological change from the Europeans.
In history, it seems inarguably true that when a nation advanced in power and wealth, changes will soon followed. These changes affected the political, economic and social system of that nation, and often came as an advantage for wealthy individuals, while detrimental to others less fortunate. An example of this notion can be seen in American History. After the Civil War and the Reconstruction Era, America quickly surpassed Great Britain in industrial production thus became the leading nation in industrialization. However, great things do not come without a cost; the rapid technological expansion in the US would initiate the crisis of the 1890s. The crisis of the 1890s was the shift from the rural and agrarian society to a modern urban and industrial society.
White, Richard. "Rise of Industrial America." The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History. Gilder Lehrman, n.d. Web. 02 Dec. 2013.
Ibid., 223. Zinn, People’s History, 220. Thomas C. Cochran and William Miller, The Age of Enterprise: A Social History of Industrial America, (New York: Harper & Row, 1961), 87. Cochran and Miller, The Age of Enterprise, 71-72. Zinn, People’s History, 220.
America’s large abundance of natural and human resources is what enabled the nation to develop so greatly in such a short amount of time. During the nations metamorphosis into the worlds industrial leader, the gross national product became eight times greater than after the civil war. New inventions also played a vital role in the country's industrial revolution. The technologies helped improve productivity, transportation, and communication. With the transcontinental railroad, refrigerated railroad cars, and the new air-brake system, larger amounts of various products could be shipped internationally at a much faster rate. A telegraph line was laid across the Atlantic Ocean, allowing the states to speak instantly with people in Europe. Railroads emerged rapidly and so did the scandals. Cruel, manipulative people dominated the country with their big businesses. Corporations came about, along with stock to raise money for them. The more money the corporation could raise through stock the closer they were to achieve economies of scale. Big businesses would sometimes come close to becoming monopolies that controlled the whole market. They were a rare...
Lubar, Steven." Engines of Change: The American Industrial Revolution 1790-1860." Smithsonian Institution. http://www.si.sgi.com/organiza/museums/nmah/homepage/docs/engin10.htm ( 1986).
Meyer, David R. The Roots of American Industrialization. N.p.: JHU, 2003. N. pag. Google Books. JHU Press. Web. 29 Sept. 2013
During the late 1700’s, the United States was no longer a possession of Britain, instead it was a market for industrial goods and the world’s major source for tobacco, cotton, and other agricultural products. A labor revolution started to occur in the United States throughout the early 1800’s. There was a shift from an agricultural economy to an industrial market system. After the War of 1812, the domestic marketplace changed due to the strong pressure of social and economic forces. Major innovations in transportation allowed the movement of information, people, and merchandise. Textile mills and factories became an important base for jobs, especially for women. There was also widespread economic growth during this time period (Roark, 260). The market revolution brought about economic growth through new modes of transportation, an abundance of natural resources, factory production, and banking and legal practices.
American had an economy based on manual labour which was replaced by one dominated by industry and the manufacture of machinery. It began with the expansion of the textile industries and the development of iron-making techniques, and trade expansion was enabled by the introduction of canals, improved roads and railways.
In early America, socio-economic class, agriculture, religion and gender played four very important roles in regional distinctions of this newly developing country. Even though agriculture, religion, and gender were extremely important, the biggest factor was socio-economic life. A person’s socio economic class was what determined their life style from a wealth, treatment, and dress style and home, which are major aspects of human life. In Everyday Life in Early America, David Freeman Hawke explains how each of these four factors determined the life style of each early resident of America as well as the overall development of the country in its beginning years to emerge into a growing and improving nation (continue)
The population of the North consisted of forward thinking individuals. They realized that a change had to be made from agriculture to industry if they were to prosper and for them to use free labor to accomplish prosperity would be to take a step backwards. This ushered in an small and early Industrial Revolution. Factories and mills that produced finished goods sprung up all over the Northern United States along major waterways. These factories produced fabric, iron, machinery, weapons. Raw materials such as cotton was bought from the South and then sold back to them in the form of clothes. Iron workers made iron railroad ties for the growing railroads across the country. More machinery was being built than ever before. These machines were able to multiply the work that could be accomplished. These industries drew in people from rural areas because they were paying for work. As more people came, they settled around the factori...
America was a time of rapid growth for people all across the country. The Industrial Revolution began a few years after the Civil War with the invention of steam powered machines. From there, America faced a time of massive expansion and modern industrialized cities popped up across the United States. While there was much success across the nation, such as manual labor becoming easier and a huge population growth, the negative effects of industrialization outweigh the positives. A few of the issues that made industrialization an atrocious time for many was the racism and segregation towards immigrants and unsafe and unfair working conditions/the deprivation of a regular childhood for kids across the nation.
The mid 19th century was an age of growth like no other. The term “Industrial Revolution” refers to the time period where production changed from homemade goods, to those produced by machines and factories. As industrial growth developed and cities grew, the work done by men and women diverged from the old agricultural life. People tended to leave home to work in the new factories being built. They worked in dangerous conditions, were paid low wages, and lacked job security (Kellogg). It is difficult to argue, however, that the economic development of the United States was not greatly dependent on the industrial revolution.
The general pattern for people is that when they becoming older they are less able to vary life. Nikolas Westerhoff in his article “Set in Our ways: Why Change is So Hard” described the connection between humans’ brains and behavior during the certain periods of life. The key assumption is that in 20s people are more hazardous and tend to adventures, while after 30s this trend is less expressed. Author gives an example when the young generation can be even over risky and inconsiderate. The article includes the story about 22-year-old Cristopher McCandless, who gave his money for charity and hitchhiked around the USA and died in Alaska because of famine. When 40s – 60s are coming people lose their appetite for novelty due to the natural process, which reveal that old habits express themselves at those ages. The elder generation wants to feel stability continuing do customary things and taking care of their children or grandchildren. Also they are under the society’s pressure, when it is quite inappropriate being infantile or just make crazy travels instead of making a career and having a family. Author mentioned false hope syndrome, which means that people often procrastinate certain thinks that never be finished. That is why Westerhoff suggests doing everything “on a right time in a right place” because then it would be probably late.