The Industrial Revolution began when a man named Samuel Slater, a British man, memorized blueprints from the British factory that he worked at. Slater memorized the blueprints and brought them back to America for Americans to see. Within a short amount of time, factories were popping up all over the United States. The building of factories was the start of the Industrial Revolution that would continue for several years to come. This revolution did several good and bad things for the northern and southern regions of the United States. Rapid industrial development is a curse because it caused slavery to increased, the amount of child labor went up, and factories caused discrimination toward women.
Slavery in the South
The practice of slavery in the late 1800s took a dramatic increase because of the invention of the cotton gin. The increase of slavery was a curse for Americans as well as the slaves. According to the article titled Foundations of Slavery in America, slavery was what caused the "bloody civil war". By 1860, slaves took up nearly one third of Americas population and still were not considered citizens. Slavery was increasing in the South making Northern abolitionists that much more eager to get rid of slavery, causing the civil war to begin a year later in 1861 over the issue of slavery.
Another reason that industrial advancements were a bad thing is that child labor took a dramatic increase. As you can see in this photo, boys were forced to work in dirty and filthy places at a very young age. These boys are working in a coal mine that could be very dangerous. The article Child Labor in the US states that by 1820, nearly 40 percent of mill workers were children between 10-15 years old. That means that almost half of the United States workforce was made up of inexperienced children doing an adults job. Children had to work so they were unable to get a good education in order to get a better job in the future.
Discrimination in the Workforce
The Industrial Revolution was a great way for women to get involved and earn a profit. However, women may have found empowerment in working, but when they left the work place they went out to man discriminating against them and their jobs. The primary source, The Handbook to Lowell, talks about how before 1840 women working in factories made good money and worked very decent hours. When the Industrial Revolution began, women's work became more intense, working more hours for shorter pay in worse conditions. This made women easy target for discrimination in the workplace because men did not value the jobs and hardships women went through to make a living.
Bagely, Sarah G. "Factory Life and Rules at Lowell, Massachusetts." Handbook to Lowell. 1848. 42-44. Britannica Schools. Web. 9 Mar. 2017. <http://school.eb.com/levels/middle/additionalcontent/primarysources?id=165364&path=/primary_source/eb/125102.html>.
Breaker Boys, Woodward Coal Mine, Kingston, PA. N.d. Library of Congress, Washington D.C. Library of Congress. Web. 9 Mar. 2017. <http://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/det1994007312/PP/>.
Feminism: women factory workers, about 1910. Image. Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 3 Feb. 2017. school.eb.com/levels/middle/assembly/view/124168. Accessed 9 Mar. 2017.
History.com Staff. "Slavery in America." History.com. N.p., 2009. Web. 8 Mar. 2017. <http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/slavery>.
Industrial Revolution: 18th Century English Cottage Industry. N.d. New Berry Library, Chicago. Britannica School. Web. 7 Mar. 2017. <http://school.eb.com/levels/middle/article/Industrial-Revolution/275053/media>.
Micheal Schuman. "History of Child Labor in the US." Bureau of Labor Statistics. N.p., Jan. 2017. Web. 9 Mar. 2017. <https://www.bls.gov/opub/mlr/2017/article/history-of-child-labor-in-the-united-states-part-1.htm>.
Slavery: slaves picking cotton. Image. Britannica School, Encyclopædia Britannica, 3 Feb. 2017. school.eb.com/levels/middle/assembly/view/182300. Accessed 8 Mar. 2017.