Benchmark 2

Benchmark 2:
Examine the social, political, and economic causes, course, and consequences of the second Industrial Revolution that began in the late 19th century.

The Second Industrial Revolution that lasted from 1871 until 1914 all started with one word “greed”. Everyone in America wanted more than what they already had, more money, more land, and more control. Everyone saw what happened during the first industrial revolution and they wanted to see what more they could do. Many scientific ideas were being brought up and so inventors across the country tried their hand at developing the newest and greatest tool.

At the beginning of the Second Industrial Revolution the government during this time had a hands-off policy. They did not interfere with business until they started getting large and became corporations. Also, during this time the government started paying less and less attention to people that had lower salaries. They put all of their attention towards the wealthier. This was because since 1890, a small portion of the populations controlled 75 percent of the nation’s wealth. During this time, the rich were very rich while the rest of the people worked in factories earning less than 500 dollars a year.

The social status of the people during the Second Industrial Revolution was very poor. All of the better and higher paying jobs were given to native-born whites or the European immigrants. The rest of the jobs left were working in factories were given to the African Americans and children. In 1900, one in every 6 children ages 10 to 15 were working in factories. The poorest of conditions were in factory jobs. The factory workers worked 10-hour days, six days a week with no paid vacation and no sick leave. Many of the workers were injured because of terrible accidents due to the rapid production standard that they were held too. Sweatshops; which were the factories that were harder to work in and were the factories that usually had most of the women and children; were very common during this time. They were cramped work shops set up in crummy buildings.

· http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Revolution
· http://www.wordiq.com/definition/Second_Industrial_Revolution
· www.mvhs.alpine.k12.ut.us/Mack%20Fieldsted/.../Chapter14.ppl