Industrialization after the Civil War

After the Civil War, the United States became a much more industrialized society. However, industrialization had both negative and positive effects on American life. While big businesses thrived, the gap between the rich and poor grew larger. Progressive reformers sought to close this gap and bring together the nation.
Industrialization was very beneficial to American business owners. Following the civil war, industries transformed into modern powerhouses. Big business owners who seized power in these industries became even bigger. New inventions led to new thriving industries. Iron, for example, was replaced with ultra-strong steel. One main reason why steel was in such demand was due to the expansion of railroads. Andrew Carnegie built the biggest steel business in the world. By 1900, Carnegie Steel earned a whopping $40 million a year (Roark, 547). He believed that big businesses such as this actually improved the overall well being of the nation- rich and poor. In his letter entitled Wealth, Carnegie states, “...the millionaire will be about a trustee for the poor, entrusted for a season with a great part of increased wealth of the community, but administering it for the community far better than it could or would have done for itself...”
(Johnson, 54). Another captain of industry during industrialization was John D. Rockefeller.
John D. Rockefeller is the founder of the Standard Oil Co. and is said to be the richest American ever. By 1890, Standard Oil Co. controlled more than 90% of the oil business (Roark, 548).
Rockefeller was so powerful that even the government feared him. By making secret deals with railroad companies and holding extreme prices, Rockefeller cut out any competition that even thought about going against him. Many people call him the symbol of heartless monopoly. Big business owners benefited from industrialization because they became in such high demand
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Industrialization after the Civil War during the peak of their thriving businesses. Although the standard of living was higher, the gap between rich and poor could not have been greater.
With so many businesses expanding during industrialization, millions of jobs opened up throughout the United States. The good thing about this is that immigrant men and women (and even children) could earn money for their family and pay for food. Factories could hire these immigrants because the work did not require much skill. These factories had terrible working conditions. Tenement buildings that were skinny, small, and unsanitary were created for the immigrant workers and lead to cities becoming dirty and overcrowded. For immigrants, working meant long hours, very low pay, and unsanitary conditions. Even children could get jobs in coal mines and factories. Because these factories were hazardous, many accidents happened; it was very common for people to lose fingers, toes, and even their lives. Many factory owners would even lock the doors of the factories so that the immigrants couldn’t get out. In the Triangle
Shirtwaist Company Fire of 1911, 146 workers died when factory owners locked the doors
(Roark). The average work week was 59 hours and the average hourly wage was 21.7 cents. An immigrant named Jacob Riis describes the city life, “ One gets a glimpse of the frightful depths to which human nature, perverted by avarice breed of ignorance and rasping poverty...for profit of children’s lives,” (Johnson, 70).
Because the divide between the rich and poor was so large, most of the upper class had no idea just how bad the lower class lived. It wasn’t until they visited or saw pictures of the actual slums that it became clear that the gap between rich and poor needed to be closed. Progressive reformers sought to close that gap. They were upper middle class people who sought to bring order back to the cities. They created settlement houses which were designed to merge the ideas