American Idustry
When the United States entered the War of 1812, it was viewed as an agrarian nation; however, during the mid nineteenth century the United States began to challenge the economic success of Europe and started to experience a cultural and industrial revolution of their own. The American industry experienced this tremendous growth during the first half of the 1800s because of new technologies, significant population growth, advances in transportation, and advances in communication.
Prior to the nineteenth century, manufacturing took place within households or in small workshops because the American industry did not have the ability to create a factory that could efficiently manufacture products at a steady rate. This problem was soon solved during the 1840s when the United States came up with a way for water to fuel factory system. The factory system was considered a prominent step toward industrialization because it allowed for a greater increase in manufactured goods, which in return lead to more wealth and money. Sustaining the energy that water gave off was difficult because the cities did not want to use all their water sources as energy for factories, so new concepts arouse about what other energy sources were available, thus the discovery of coal came to surface. Industrialization was profiting from coal because it was replacing valuable water and wood that was needed for other needs, while at the same time it permitted industry to expand more widely. Among the most important advances in technology were the inventions of interchangeable parts and other machine tools such as the turret lathe. The turret lathe was crafted in order to cut screws and other metal parts. It was considered to be the reason why interchangeable parts found its way into industries because with machine tools, the parts could be chiseled and fixed for future use. Because of the boom and improvement in machinery, multiple inventions and discoveries such as the sewing machine and vulcanizing rubber soon began to be introduced in the manufacturing of ready-to-wear clothing. Due to the advancement in technology, the industry needed employees, which lead to an increase in population.
