List three (3) major aspects of industrialization between 1865 and 1920

Industrialization is broadly defined as the shift from an agrarian (or rural) society to an urban, industrial-based society. The Industrial Revolution in the United States traces its roots from 18th century Britain. As one of the most powerful countries, Britain needed a way to more efficiently meet the marketplace demands. This led to an increase in mechanization (the use of machines). Industrialization spread from Britain into Europe and by the mid 19th century into the United States. In the United States, three major aspects of Industrialization between 1865 and 1920 can be seen. These include: the shift from agrarian societies to industrialized societies, urbanization, and the role of the assembly line.

One of the major aspects of industrialization was the shift from an agrarian based society to a factory based society. In agrarian communities, in general, families would have to make what they needed. They grew their own food, made their own clothing, and generally used hand tools to fix or create furniture or make repairs to their houses. Once the Industrial Revolution hit the United States, consumerism began to take over. People would buy a new piece of furniture, they would go to a general store, and buy a new dress that they could order from a catalog. As people moved away from farming communities and into urban areas, they were forced to purchase food.

Urbanization, the shift of a population from rural communities to the cities, was another major aspect of industrialization. While the general shift from an agrarian society towards an industrialized society forced people into the cities, large numbers of immigrants were entering the United States at the same time. Statistics show the population of the United States quadrupled between 1814 and 1860. Between 1880 and 1890, the U.S. population increased by 15 million people. Yet, this same decade, migration to the city reportedly accounts for a nearly 40% decrease in township (rural) populations. This is a lot of movement into certain areas by a lot of people. Unfortunately, the urban areas could not keep up with the pace of growth, which led to overcrowding, disease, and general unsanitary living conditions.

The third aspect of industrialization is the importance of the assembly line and mass production. Henry Ford’s automobile assembly line production is one of the more famous examples of mass production. Production using an assembly line system was seen in factories. Instead of building one car at a time, welding each piece unique to that car, interchangeable parts could be produced. A factory full of workers would each be assigned a specific task. One worker may have been assigned the task of installing a bolt, the person next to him was required to flip the piece, and then the person next to that person would install another piece. And so on down the line. In 1913 and 1914, Henry Ford introduced the moving assembly line with a mechanized belt that would move at a set pace. With this, Ford was able to decrease the amount of time to produce one car from 12 hours to 2 ½ hours. Mass production also allowed for each part of the vehicle to be made individually. This is known as interchangeable parts. With this, if one piece of the car broke (for example a bolt holding the engine cracked), that one piece could be replaced instead of replacing the entire car.