Industrial Revolution

So many things changed with the advent of the Industrial Revolution. The revolution came about as a product of the Transportation Revolution, which made the movement of goods easier and substantially cheaper. The market for manufactured products, especially textiles, greatly expanded. Hard workers were needed to produce these goods. Industry soon greatly expanded and new cities and towns sprung up to accommodate people at the newly opened factories and mines. However, while the growing industry in the United States greatly benefited the country, it did not necessarily better the lives of the individuals who were behind it. Due to the fact that laborers were forced to live in crowded and deteriorating housing and work in horrible conditions with little independence many people banded together to enact reforms to improve working conditions.

First of all, the living conditions many laborers endured were horrendous. The way piano manufacturer William Steinway describes the tenement housing system truly paints a disturbing picture. "The average workingman's