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What were the positive and negative effects of the industrial revolution on the United States?

An excellent question, since this was a trenchant debate between some of the towering figures of early America. America's third President, Thomas Jefferson, held the view that America should be a nation of small, self-sufficient farmers, stating "Those who labour in the Earth are the chosen people of God."


Jefferson and others who shared his views believed small farmers discouraged the concentration of people into large cities, where dependence and all manner of vice purportedly flourished. These proponents of a largely agrarian America argued that self-sufficient farmers were also the backbone of a vibrant democracy, since they were much less likely to be swayed in their political opinions than those dependent on owners of large manufacturing concerns.


Opposing this view were the likes of Alexander Hamilton, the nation's first Treasury Secretary, who believed that America was destined to be a manufacturing and commercial power. Alexander advocated for a strong, centralized government and national bank in support of American industrial efforts, along with friendly trade relations with Britain.


The industrial revolution in America did come to fruition, and with it the institution of the beginnings of mass labor, a departure form the self-sufficient labors of small farmers, craftsmen and artisans. One could argue that along with industrialization came the alienation of leaving one's home to work in a location that belonged to someone else, and the attendant disruption of family life, which in its prior incarnation saw families largely held together by ties to the land. Since no real regime of labor laws existed at the time, workers were largely dependent on their employers for decent treatment and wages.


A figure like Hamilton would point to the advantages of great national wealth that accumulated due to the Industrial Revolution, a reality that many considered security against economic exploitation and even military invasion from European powers. The uniformity of products that began to materialize during its early years also meant that a certain efficiency of manufacturing came into being, though one may argue that this fact removed the personal aspect of "home-made" goods, and began to erode the self-sufficiency of the average early American.

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