During the second half of the 19th century, a new wave of industrialization spread throughout the U.S. There were several factors spurring this technological movement on. First, several new technologies were developed and improved in rapid succession. Railroads, steam engines, telegraph lines and the internal combustion engine all became more readily available. More and more Americans found themselves depending on industrial technologies for communication, economic and social activities.
Another factor that led to the industrialization of the 1900’s was the Reconstruction Era. As northern companies worked to rebuild southern infrastructure, they also began industrializing where there had once been no industry. For many southerners, the vision of the “New South” included a local industrial base that would help it compete with northern interests and make it more self-reliant.
This industrialization of the south also continued out west. As American spread towards the Pacific, western towns began installing communication and economic technologies which kept the shrinking frontier connected to the east. Rail and telegraph lines were the most common, but there was also a demand for dynamos, furnaces and other necessities which helped modernize the west.
