America always had these resources, however, they lacked the necessary funds to buy them. American and European government invested about 593 million dollars into the supplies needed (America past & present 418). Steel and oil were used to their full advantage and were seen as the most important of all. Steel gave the United States the power of building railroads. Railroads gave a more efficient way of transportation. With the money that was invested into the train companies, getting the recourses were not a problem. With steel being used to build the tracks, coal and oil were used in the process of running the actual train.
Steel made changes in manufacturing, agriculture, and architecture because it was harder and more durable than other kinds of iron. It permitted construction of longer bridges, taller building, stronger railroad track, newer weapons, better plows, heavier machinery, and faster ships. In 1 870 steel became the worlds most recognized measure of industrial progress (America past & present 418). Although, America already had ways of transportation, the advantages of the railroads gave Americans more direct routes with greater speed. Traveling by train gave the everyday American the advantage of everyday schedules.
The trains had a year round service and consistent transportation ran efficiently. The railroad covered approximately fifty miles in an hour and about seven hundred miles a day (America past & present 416). So the booming transportation offered more opportunities for Americans, instead of being restricted to one location. The advantage of the railroads were that the Americans were able to look for better work, and ravel daily. The government benefited from the trains as well, by having them carry government fright, troops, and mail. Between the time of 1850-1945 the railroads saved the government about one billion dollars” (America past & present 418). With the help of steal, coal, and oil, the American people were given more opportunities to expand in areas of work, traveling and living. Furthermore, Farming was one Of America’s main necessities. It was relied on for jobs and food source, but that as well had its up and downs. New farming methods and techniques were adopted to meet inductions on the plains. The summers brought grasshoppers that ate everything in sight. Cheap and effective fencing material was needed.
In 1874 Joseph F. Glidden, a farmer from De Kale, Illinois provided the invention of barbed wire (America past & present 408). The fencing helped keep the unwanted things out of the farm area. Another issue was the lack of rainfall. There would be times that a drought would accrue and the farms would suffer and the plants would die. Dry farming was a technique that helped compensate for the lack of rainfall. The technique was simple, by plowing arrows twelve inches deep and creating a dust mulch to fill the furrow, farmers were able to loosen the soil and slowed evaporation (America past & present 408).
Moreover, by 1 890 more than nine hundred corporations manufactured farm machinery. Due to smarter methods farming was able to become stronger but, the idea that the United States had a kind of divine right to expand its borders hurt a lot of farm workers and due to industrialization the farmers were the ones who suffered the most with the expansion of a better America. Farming still played a big role in supplying DOD source, but the amount of farms were not needed. Instead of having a lot of little farms, big farms became the main focus. Many people were left without work.
Therefore, individuals had no other option but to look for work elsewhere. This forced people to migrate into more urban cities. Next, between 1870 and 1 900, people moved west to escape and drab routine of factory and city life. At this point arbitration and industrialization started to set in and the American population grew rapidly as the American people wanted this life style. In 1900 the United States had six cities such cities including three, New York, Chicago, and Philadelphia with the population greater than one million (America past & present 439).
During this time the city was transformed by a revolution in technology. In the sass’s the age of steel and glass produced the skyscraper, the streetcar produced the suburbs and new residential patterns (America past & present 440). American cities were crowded with a lot of small buildings but the change in surrounding helped mold America. Immigrants were pouring in, and cities were turning big overnight. The cities had promising factory’s that offered many people jobs. New inventions offered a better means of communication, transportation, and a better life style.
The United States had better laws past that helped the average American. The American people had freedom and for that reason was appealing to many immigrants. Threw out this time the city life was at an all-time high and with the amount of growth from the Civil War America was growing. A better America had finally come, in the past a big issue was racism. That however changed as well, in 1 900 the country had nearly seventy-six million people (America past & present 447). Nine-tenths of the population as white; just under one-tenth was black (America past & present 447).
There were sixty-six thousand American Indians, 1 08,000 Chinese and 148 Japanese (America past & present 447). America was no longer a one man party, it had many races trying to live better lives. Due to the amount of growth and the verity in race that alone shows how much of a long way America changed after the Civil War. In Conclusion, even though the united States of America suffered a lot because of the Civil War, it underwent tremendous economic, social, cultural, and demographic change as modern America began to boom.