Nineteenth-Century Industrialization in the United StatesDuring the second half of the nineteenth century, the United States experienced an urban revolution unprecedented in world history up to that time. As factories, mines, and mills popped up across the map, cities grew around them. The late 19th century, one economist declared in 1889, was “not only the age of cities, but the age of great cities.” Between 1860 and 1910 the urban population grew from 6 million to 44 million. The United States was rapidly losing its rural roots. In 1920 more than half the population lived in urban areas. The rise of large cities during the nineteenth century created a distinctive urban culture. People from different ethnic and religious backgrounds arrived in the cities and settled in large apartment blocks and public housing. They came looking for work, wealth and new opportunities. Urbanization has led to a widening of the gap between the poor and the rich. Nineteenth-century American industrialization relied on poverty and immigration for its success. Industrialization grew due to the increase of workers and cheap labor. The ideal of business success and prosperity has fueled increased immigration. Immigrants came seeking wealth but soon discovered that wealth was not what they received. The Industrial Revolution brought huge numbers of new immigrants from all over the world. By the end of the century, nearly 30 percent of residents of major cities were foreign-born. Their arrival in America brought the workers that industries and factories needed. Their arrival also created unpleasant racial and ethnic tensions. Most immigrants were attracted to America by the promise of prosperity, even if they did well in their own countries. American industries, seeking cheap labor, continued to recruit guards abroad and in American ports. “From 1820 to 1900, approximately 20 million immigrants entered American ports, more than half of whom arrived after the Civil War. The wave of immigration rose from just under 3 million in the 1870s to more than 5 million in the 1880s, then declined to just over 3.5 million in the depression decade of the 1990s of the nineteenth century, to reach the maximum level of almost 9 million. in the first decade of the new century. The numbers dropped to 6 million in the 1910s and 4 million in... middle of paper... a major strike in American history which then led to a change in workers' rights. The formation of unions such as the AFL and the Knights of Labor lead to a more socialist system. The American worker has changed thanks to unions and much has gone for the better. The worker would no longer tolerate unfair treatment and therefore the American worker contrasted the relationship between him and his employers. American industrialization relied on poverty and immigration for its success. If immigrants had not worked for low wages in factories and industries, the economic boom would not have taken place. The money earned in the early 19th century was needed to stimulate business growth. American workers eventually grew tired of the unfair treatment they had received, so they joined unions. Unions changed the capitalist system into the socialist system it remains today. Works Cited Sinclair, Upton. The Jungle, Bantam Books, New York, 1906.Sumner, William. What Social Classes Owe Each Other, www.xroads.virgina.edu,Tindall, George. America: A Narrative History, W. W. Norton and Company New York, 1999.