The Effects of the American Industrial Revolution Described in "A People’s History of the United States", "America: A Narrative History" and "A Histor

The mid 19th century is one of the major turnaround in the history of the United States. That is the time when America became an Industrial giant and emerged as one of the powerful countries in the world. Industrial revolution changed the people’s way of living in the whole world especially the United States from hand and home productivity to machine and factory. America rose from rural and agricultural country to an urban-industrial that introduces new technologies. United States has been through a lot of ups and down in spite of its emergence and three books tells the story of the Industrial America in three different perspectives. Each of these perspectives creates the whole idea of what Industrial Revolution is all about. The first book is called A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn, who is a Historian. His view on Industrial Revolution focuses more about war, on how people go against each other for the sake of interests. Sure, he mentioned some of the progresses in the United States, but he focused more on the problems that I brought to the Americans. Like for example, “In New York City, girls sewed umbrellas from six in the morning to midnight” (234). He described how women were force to work in shops and factories instead of focusing on how the United States helped people to earn more money. He tells the history of industrial revolution in a dark but true way. An example for that is the way he tells how angry the Irish immigrants were because of the racism in 1849: “The anger of the city poor often expressed itself in futile violence over nationality or religion…The crowd, shouting ‘Burn the damn den of aristocracy,’ charged, throwing bricks” (227). The words that he used in the example, is clearly deta... ... middle of paper ... ...tually break up monopolies when they formed, by specific legislation” (600). They see that the government is letting the business tycoons to own whatever land they want and extend their fortunes. Unlike the first two books, Johnson’s book discussed the history of the book without bias and from a different perception; one that was not came from an American view. Industrial Revolution was really the turning point in the history of the United States. It is the reason why this country is now populated with different races. This is also the reason why America is considered as the most powerful country in the world. From the insights of the three different books mentioned, it all comes from one great conclusion, that the Industrial Revolution promotes freedom to people which makes the United States what it is today: a country with a lot of faith and strength of purpose.