Problems During America's Industrial Reform

Between 1895 and 1930, during America's industrial and urban transformation, many problems arose. Three main issues were: child labor, public health and poor working conditions and monopolies. These problems caused many other problems to manifest, such as poorer communities and a decline in public health.

One of the main problems during America's industrial and urban transformation was child labor. This was a problem because very young children were being forced to work in poor conditions in order to support their families. Children as young as 6, instead of going to school, had to report each morning to factories where they worked long hours doing dangerous jobs. Many children died or were injured in these factories. Children had to work because, often, it was the only way to feed their families. Also, because these children could not receive an education, when they grew up they had to work in factories because they were not educated to do anything else. This became a vicious circle of factory life.

Another one of the main problems during this time period was the poor working conditions and the public health. Often, people had to work in areas that were dirty and unsafe. This contributed to a decline in public health. This was a problem because people that were sick could not work and therefore could not support their families. Often, working conditions were to blame for this sickness, which started a vicious circle that was very hard to break. Poor working conditions, like the other main problems during this time period led to more impoverished people and greater poverty for communities as a whole.

The last main problem between 1895 and 1930 was monopolies. Monopolies were a problem because they dominated a particular industry and bought up all of the competition. When there was no competition, monopolies could control and set the prices of goods. This became a problem when monopolies started selling highly priced goods and people could no longer afford it. Monopolies contributed to the poverty of the community and forced more young children to have to work to support their families.

During the period of America's industrial and urban revolution there were three main problems. These problems were child labor, public health and poor working conditions and monopolies. These problems all fed off of one another and contributed to the poor status of the communities. These problems also led to a decline in public health, which caused more people to have to stay home sick, which meant they could not make money to provide for their families, which led to greater poverty of the people. If it were not for these problems, poverty during this time period would not have been as great and less children would have had to work in poor conditions.

American History Textbook

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