HIST 405N Week 5 Discussion: Industrialization, Imperialism and America s Entry Into WWI
Describe the basic industries of America’s Industrial
... [Show More] Revolution. Explain what made the men who controlled them so successful, and analyze the role of immigrants in industrialization. How did imperialism play a critical role leading up to World War I? Discuss the foreign policy of the US and the events that drew the country into World War I.
Chapter 16: Wonder and Woe: The Rise of Industrial America, 1865–1900
Chapter 18: Creating a Democratic Paradise: The Progressive Era, 1895 –1915
Chapter 19: Imperial America: The United States in the World, 1890–1914
For this week’s discussion describe the industries of America’s Industrial Revolution. Why were the owners so successful? What role did immigrants play in industrialization? Also, take into account how foreign affairs and world events drew the US into World War I.
ANSWER
Owners during the industrialization period were very successful. “America’s huge supplies of key raw materials, its rapidly growing urban workforce, and its tradition of imposing few restraints on business enabled industrialization to boom after the Civil War” (Keene, Cornell, and O’Donnell, 2013, p. 470). Railroads, steel, and petroleum, were the first large businesses to quickly emerge during this period with goals of modern practice, however, this concerned Americans because they worried about the power these new businesses had over the country.
Immigration played a huge role in industrialization. Decades around the year 1900 were not just the age of the industrial revolution, but also the time period when immigration and urbanization really took off. “Immigrants, as well as manufacturing enterprises, were concentrated in the rapidly growing cities of the Northeast and Midwest during the age of industrialization” (Hirschman and Mogford, 2009, para. 7). In 1900, the population was composed of three-quarters of immigrants along with their children in large cities such as Chicago, New York, Cleveland, Boston, Buffalo, San Francisco, Detroit, and Milwaukee. Industrialization was correlated with immigration, both temporally and spatially. Historians have often wondered and considered what the actual impact would have been on industrialization in America if there hadn’t been a powerful immigrant workforce (Hirschman and Mogford, 2009). “The most commonly cited reasons for the rapid American industrial revolution are the abundance of mineral resources, technological innovation, the evolution of the American system of manufacturing, railroads and lowered costs of transportation, education and human resources, and the rise of the managerial firm” (Hirschman and Mogford, 2009, para. 8).
There were many events that led America into World War I, however, the main cause was due to tensions between European powers as well as crisis of the “balance-of-power system” which ended up separating Europe into camps (“Events that led to World War I”, 2016). The U.S. tried to stay neutral between its conflicts with European affairs. However, President Woodrow Wilson, on April 2. 1917, went before Congress requesting to declare a war against the Germans. “Wilson cited Germany’s violation of its pledge to suspend unrestricted submarine warfare in the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean, as well as its attempts to entice Mexico into an alliance against the United States, as his reasons for declaring war” (“U.S. Entry into World War I”, n.d., para 1). The U.S. Senate decided to vote in support of his request on April 4, 1917 and two days after, the House also agreed (“U.S. Entry into World War I”, n.d.).
Resources
Events that led to World War I. (2016). Retrieved on February 3, 2019 from https://historylists.org/events/10-events-that-led-to-world-war-i.html
Hirschman, C., Mogford, E. (2009). Immigration and the American Industrial Revolution. PMC. Retrieved on February 3, 2019 from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2760060/
Keene, J.D., Cornell, S., & O’Donnell, E. D. (2013). Visions of America: A History of the United States (2nd ed). Pearson Learning Solutions.
U.S. entry into World War I. (n.d.). Office of the historian. Retrieved on February 3, 2019 from https://history.state.gov/milestones/1914-1920/wwi [Show Less]