America Before and after Manufacturing Essay Example

Introduction

Before the United States grew into a large manufacturing superpower, the United States was dominated by agriculture. The edge of the United States as the leading manufacturer in the world has gradually slipped beginning the year 1970. Although the country was the largest manufacturer in the year 1970, other countries like China have come about and overtaken it both in terms of scope and innovation. Although China produces more than 20 percent of the world's goods, the United States takes credit for some of the most important innovations in the world of technology. The United States produces slightly above 18 percent of goods in the world and comes in second before Japan which produces 10 percent of the entire goods in the world.

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The position of the United States as the largest manufacturer in the world is threatened by the high costs in manufacturing. Such a factor gives an edge of competition to other countries. China is the first among the countries that take advantage of the high costs of production of the good in the US (Navarro). China features low-cost manufacturing, albeit with high levels of manufacturing pollution and supports up to 17.6 percent of the population of products in the world. Manufacturing forms an essential aspect of the gross domestic product of the United States. It is so essential to the United States economy that in the year 2018 it formed $2.33 trillion of the economy (Amadeo). According to the Economic Bureau of analysis, it drove more than 11 percent of the United States economic output.

How Mill helped America

The Mills technology arrived in America at the height of the industrial revolution and completely changed manufacturing processes. In early mills, the technology employed the use of a putting system that entailed the use of spinning as well as carding. Early millers would pay hand weaves that would weave the fabric and take it back to the Mill to finish up the entire milling process (Hall). The emergence of the 1830s allowed the entry of improved machinery that ensured the mills could do the entire process using the machines and this reduced the cost of buying cotton clothes. Power looms with the ability to manage wool were created in the year 1841 and hence the development of affordable woolens (Hall).

The first suit of the same machine was created in 1975 by Jacques de Vaucanson. The period of the manufacturing revolution saw mechanized power generated by use of water wheels or steam engines being transmitted to the lathe through line shafting. The process allowed faster work timing and better performance (Kelly). Lathes for working with metal evolved into thick forms of heavier machines that were made with thicker parts. This allowed faster, easier and more efficient work.

Continued developments in the field of textile machinery, as well as the spread of railroads, brought about expensive fabrics that were manufactured in the factories. By the turn of the century in the year 1870, more than 2,000 woolen mills were developed as well as hundreds of mills all through the United States. Not only did the mills change how people dressed but they also changed the manner in which people decorated their homes (Clark). By the beginning of 1830, ordinary people had the resources to afford more clothing whereas the poorer populations began emulating the high-end fashion styles. Moreover, with time, curtains, as well as other decorative artifacts, started to appear in houses with a touch of modernity to them.

The shift from predominately-rural agrarian societies to modern cities and industries catalyzed the second most significant surge in economic production and influenced aspects of the society such as nationalism, urbanization, and imperialism. Manufacturing began in the middle of 1700s and carried on into the middle of the 1800s leading to an increase in material wealth, improved quality of life hence long lifespan (Amadeo). Manufacturing defied the old structure of class in Europe, restructuring the philosophical and economic worldview of the west, tremendously shaped the concept of social classes influencing the modern world structure.

Manufacturing introduced more class structures to the world social system. Before the advent of industries, the nobility and the peasantry were the two dominant social classes. Innovation and education provided opportunities for people to climb up the social ladder leading to the emergence of the working and the middle class. The Upper class later emerged as the wealthiest class whose wealth was generated by the hands of the working class. They inherited family wealth and lived in the countryside. The middle class and the working class migrated to the big cities in search of employment from the new industries.

Manufacturing led to the evolution of education to offer training to workers in the industries. The training helped to impart skills into the hands of peasants and hence improved their lives making them climb up the social class ladder. Structural functionalism theory best exemplifies the scenario whereby some norms are forced upon the population by people who have the power and the interest to do so (Hall). More training turned factory workers into business owners. They became factory owners, lawyers, and doctors who built the factories, buying the needed machines creating employment. Men in the middle class could vote and hold political offices. The middle class grew in wealth and numbers, and soon they became as powerful as the upper class.

By the time the century matured to its center, families needed not to spend most of their time weaving and spinning. The factories were a source of a high number of textiles for people from all walks of life. Moreover, due to the new technology, they proved to be an important source of employment for the populations. People moved to larger cities and towns from farms and small towns (Clark). They worked in the many factories and supporting businesses that grew up all around them. The success of the textile industry led to the growth of many of the factory systems in the United States. Moreover, all types of artisans and craftsmen were replaced at a time when cheap goods were marketed to all people via mail order catalogs.

How the Lathe helped America

American inventors adopted the Lathe machine at the turn of the century. It was a tool that was used to shape other pieces of metal. Sometimes it was used to shape wood and other materials. It works by primarily causing the piece being worked on to be held and rotated by the lathe and at the same time a tool bit is advanced into the work leading to the cutting action (Clark). Initially, the lathe machine was developed to cut cylindrical metal stock. It was later developed to produce new screw threads, crankshafts, and knurled surfaces. Moreover, it could make drilled holes, tapered work and screw threads.

Different from traditional lathers, modern ones come with a variety of rotating speeds as well as a means of automatically and manually moving the cutting tool into the workpiece. Personnel at the maintenance and machinists shops must work to remain familiar with the lathe as well as its operations for the sake of accomplishing the fabrication as well as repair of the needed parts. The industrial revolution made good use of the lathe machines (Amadeo). It is normally referred to as the mother of all machine tools as it was that first machine tool that led to many other tools during the industrial revolution.

The industrial revolution led to exploitation and rampant abuse of human rights on a scale that was never seen before in the history of the world. Children as young as ten years were employed to work in the factories and since many peasants offered to work in the industries, the factory owners could use them for as little pay as they wished (Navarro). While children were hired for their flexibility, women were hired because they accepted lower wages than men did. At times factory workers were injured, and other times they were killed. The working class toiled for long hours under poor conditions and lived in even more impoverished environments.

Conclusion

Overall, manufacturing had tremendous effects on social class. Not only was there an upsurge in the number of class stratifications but there was also an increase in the gap between the rich and the poor. It augmented material wealth among western nations and amplified the growth and longevity of the middle class. It helped to create the view that science and innovation can be used to improve the quality of life and can as well be used to destroy the world economy. Due to the injustices of the manufacturing, labor laws were created to protect the poor working class against the power of the wealthy upper class.

Works Cited

Amadeo, Kimberly. US Manufacturing, Statistics, and Outlook . 11 February 2019. 7 March 2019 <www.thebalance.com/u-s-manufacturing-what-it-is-statistics-and-outlook-3305575>.

Clark, Woodrow. The Green Industrial Revolution: Here Now. 2015. 2019 <www.huffingtonpost.com/woodrow-clark/green-industrial-revolution_b_6045660.html>.

Hall, John. Inside the forgotten mill which helped clothe America: Amazing pictures of silk mill untouched since it last worked in 1957. 2014. 7 March 2019 <www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2556717/Inside-forgotten-helped-clothe-America-Amazing-pictures-silk-untouched-worked-1957.html>.

Kelly, Erin. 29 Historical Photos Of The Immigrant Laborers Who Helped Build America. 2019. 2019 www.allthatsinteresting.com/immigrant-laborers-historical-photos>.

Navarro, Peter. The Economics of the "China Price". 2019. 7 March 2019 <www.journals.openedition.org/chinaperspectives/3063>.