Spring 2000

Prof's instructions: Write a 4-5 page analytic essay (double-spaced) in response to the following statement. The goal is not to dissect the statement's wording but to present your own assessment of the impact of American industrialization through the mid-nineteenth century. Be sure to explain and document your thesis by making reference to specific evidence from the assigned materials, including primary as well as secondary sources. For scholarly apparatus, you may use either brief parenthetical notations (such as Licht, Industrializing America, p. 10) or more formal footnotes or endnotes. You are encouraged to use direct quotations but to keep them short. Acknowledge, where appropriate, evidence that tends to undermine your interpretation, and explain why you nonetheless stand by your position. Write clearly and concisely. End with a succinct concluding paragraph. The paper is due by 4:30 p.m. on Friday, March 24. You may submit hardcopy at my office (King 141) or e-mail me an attached file in Microsoft Word 97 or 98.

Statement: "Unlike in Great Britain, in the United States the advent of industrial capitalism entailed little social or cultural upheaval. The shift from an agricultural to a manufacturing economy was gradual and also widely beneficial. Americans migrated from farm to factory not out of desperation but because they anticipated greater opportunities in an urban-industrial setting. Women in particular gained a new level of independence. Because of the general shortage of labor, mechanization cost few workers their jobs, and consequently few workers had reason to challenge the legitimacy of wage labor and market economics. The flood of immigrants proves how attractive American conditions were in a global context. On the basis of what we have learned so far in this course, it should be renamed ‘The Industrial Evolution in America.’"