Socioeconomic Impact of the Industrial Revolution During the Xix and Xx Centuries Introduction

Essay revolution

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NAME: MIGUEL MARTÍNEZ

COURSE: 3RD SCIENCE B

TOPIC: SOCIOECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION DURING THE XIX AND XX CENTURIES

INTRODUCTION

In 1860 started a battle that would unbalance all the United States. The civil war divided the country into two sides: The North and The South. This war ended in 1865, but as every war, it left social and economical consequences to the country.

The country was divided and the world saw American democracy as a fail experiment. But what they didn’t realize is that a new era had begun, the nation was entering to an age of advancements and the empty space left for the death of perhaps the greatest statesman that the world would ever know, a new generation of leaders emerged.

In this context begins what will be the bases to build what we know as the United States, this is the beginning of the second industrial revolution that changed not only America but all the world.

In New York in 1865 for the first time of the country short existence the man most capable of leading America is not a politician, is a self-made man who through efforts turn the poor New York City harbor into an empire. At sixteen years old, Cornelius Vanderbilt buys a small ferryboat with a $100 amount, he quickly gets a reputation of a man that uses every method necessary to gain a hit. His single ferry soon became a fleet of ships, transporting goods and passengers to every corner of the growing country. Vanderbilt’s nickname becomes “The Commodore”. Over the next 40 years Vanderbilt builds the largest shipping empire in the world. Then at the peck of his power he does the unthinkable. The construction of the first railroad begins and the Commodore realizes that will change America, slashing cross country travel time by months. Vanderbilt see its future and sells all of the ships and invest everything he has in railroads. His decision to invest in railroads pays off, by the end of the war he’s the richest man in America with a net gain of over $68 million dollars the equivalent of $75 billion today.

He suffered the loss of favorite his son, George, in the civil war and he had trained him to take over the family business and now the Commodore is forced to rely on his less accomplished son, William. Vanderbilt put William into a negotiation with the competition and they don’t see anymore Vanderbilt as a man of fear, but where they see weakness the Commodore sees an opportunity to assert his dominance and teach William what it means to be a Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt owns the only rail-bridge into New York City and he prove his dominance closing it. His competitors shares at Wall Street quickly drops and Vanderbilt