Industrialization of America
... people that included every one from immigrants to fathers struggling to make ends meat. The availability of jobs was drawing immigrants from their home country to work in America and escape poverty. Immigrants could be paid less for the same work; this caused people who refused to work for less to loose their jobs. With large numbers of people going to work at the same place, groups of workers with similar ideas formed. After years of bad working conditions workers started to form even bigger groups called unions. Unions were a way for people’s voices to be heard; they could demand better working conditions or higher pay. With the rise of unions came strikes. Workers whose demands were not met would go on strike, also known as occupying the workplace but not working until their demands were met. The need for improved working conditions caused an organization called the Knights of Labor to form. They fought for the right of all workers, black, white, female, male, unskilled, and skilled. The Knights of Labor would organize strikes and try to give a voice to the working class. The Knights of Labor eventually died out as members left. In 1918, when congress made the division of America into time zones, there was a permanent change on how people saw time. Before the railroad companies made the time division on their own there was a different time for each railroad company. All railroad companies set their clocks differently and this made traveling and arriving on time difficult. If it weren’t for the railroad companies who set the division then there would be no time zones. With time zones people now had a way to be sure of the time in a specific zone. Industrialization changed America into an automobile culture. Cars became the focus of more and more people. Cities used to be called walking cities because you could walk to every part of the city easily. After Henry Ford made an affordable automobile cities began to expand; people could now live farther from work than they ever thought possible, and the walking city was no more. The invention of the automobile also started the love affair with cars that many Americans share today. With GM producing a new model in new colors each year people tried to keep up with buying the newest ones. People today still pride themselves on the quality or popularity of the vehicle they drive. Industrialization made possible the widespread use of electricity. Almost every home in America was being outfitted with electricity because of industrialization. Homes were now capable of running electrical appliances such as radios. Radio became the biggest pastime for everyone with any interest in anything. The radio is a by-product of electricity and the industrial revolution. This changed advertising from newspaper ads and flyers to mass media. A whole new market opened up for advertisers. Rad...