What changes did industrialization bring?

Industrialization brought urbanization, factory work, mass immigration, environmental change, social inequality, the rise of organized labor, and government regulation, transforming nearly every dimension of American life between the Civil War and World War I. Urbanization was the most visible change. The percentage of Americans living in cities of more than 2,500 people rose from about 20 percent in 1860 to about 40 percent in 1900 and just over 50 percent by 1920. New York City grew from about 800,000 residents in 1860 to about 4.7 million by 1910 (with Brooklyn consolidated in 1898). Chicago grew from 109,000 in 1860 to 2.2 million by 1910. Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Detroit, Cincinnati, and St. Louis became major industrial centers.

Cities developed mass transit systems including streetcars, elevated railways, and (starting with Boston in 1897 and New York in 1904) subways. Skyscrapers became possible with steel frame construction; the Home Insurance Building in Chicago in 1885 is often considered the first true skyscraper.

Factory work transformed how Americans earned a living. The number of factory workers grew from about 1.3 million in 1860 to 8 million in 1910. Wages improved on average but conditions were brutal: 60 hour workweeks, dangerous machinery, child labor, and exposure to industrial chemicals were common. Major industrial accidents like the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire on March 25, 1911, which killed 146 workers in New York, drew attention to conditions.

Labor unions including the Knights of Labor founded 1869 and the American Federation of Labor founded 1886 organized workers, and major strikes including the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, the Haymarket Affair of May 4, 1886, the Homestead Strike of July 1892, and the Pullman Strike of May 1894 punctuated the era.

Mass immigration from Europe (and from China and Japan to the West Coast) provided much of the industrial workforce. About 24 million immigrants arrived between 1880 and 1920, primarily from southern and eastern Europe (Italians, Poles, Russians, Greeks, Hungarians, Ashkenazi Jews) along with continuing migration from Ireland, Germany, and Britain. The frontier population also grew from internal migration.

Environmental change accompanied industrialization: deforestation, river pollution, urban smog, and disappearance of buffalo herds. Cultural and intellectual responses included the rise of mass-circulation newspapers, professional sports, public schooling, and university research. The growth of a wealthy industrial class produced both philanthropy (libraries, museums, universities) and corruption.

Political responses included the Populist movement of the 1890s, the Progressive Era of 1890 to 1920, antitrust laws (the Sherman Antitrust Act of July 2, 1890 and the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914), food and drug regulation, and the Sixteenth Amendment authorizing the federal income tax in 1913.