The Industrial Revolution

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The Industrial Revolution

During the 1800's, phenomenal changes took place in America. These changes would impact our society incredibly for years to come and even still in the present. The major changes that took place were in transportation and industry. American society expanded so much in the early 1800's that it very well could have been the only time in history where this happened in such a short amount of time. From steamboats to railroads and from textile mills to interchangeable parts, the revolutions of this century were key to America's expansion as a country.

First, the Transportation Revolution began early with simple roads. The National Road, from Baltimore to Illinois was finished in 1838. This road was originally intended to aid in westward migration, but in the end, served much greater purposes. Soon, Americans began to settle all along the National Road (Enduring Vision 241). People also began to start building canals. Due to the extreme high cost of canals, they were often harder to finish and took an exasperating amount of time to build. Merchants in New York supported the building of canals though, because for them, it would be a great improvement. This would mean that they would have connection with the Midwest through the Erie Canal. The Erie Canal reshaped the Northeast. It allowed people to move from the East to the Midwest easily, which before was very expensive and time consuming. It also gave farmers cheap access to New York and made it easier for manufactures to ship products. Canals reduced shipping costs from 30 cents a mile to around 3 cents a mile (Enduring Vision 247). Clearly, this was a huge improvement economically because now people could ship their products faster and cheaper. Coming al...

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... in social relationships occurred, as well as changes in women and men alone. There were changes in how people related to each other, and people also began to challenge each other's ideas, independence and individualism. Aside from changes in agriculture, transportation, working place and industry, all of these improvements in America also changed how people acted socially (Enduring Vision 253).

It is clear to see how the advancements of the 1800's impacted society. Every person and place in America was affected by the changes that were going on. Developments and progress occurred that changed our society permanently. Almost all of the inventions or ideas that were introduced in the 1800's are still in active use today. Clearly, the transportation and industrial revolution had an immense affect on how society was back then, as well as how we live our lives today.

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