Post 3: Unit 3, Urbanization & Industrialization

In chapter 9 I learned that Britain use to be an industrial giant. Mostly because they forced strict export rules on other countries. That didn't last. Once other countries like Germany, France and the U.S. began finding abundant supplies of resources. Britain did not have as much, this gave the other countries the upper hand in the industrial revolution. Germany led Europe and the U.S. led the world. The countries that did not develop as fast were countries that lacked natural resources. The growth of these countries had a huge impact. There was fast urbanization. People worked long hours and horrible conditions. Factories were making things faster and in large numbers, which made the prices go down. Jobs were created like building the cities and railroads. World trade began and competition between countries was fierce. The west dominated the world because they had technological and economic advantages. New things like steel, chemicals, electricity and new ways of making goods made the economy grow even faster. During this time too, transportation and communications were changed for the better. Steam was used for faster ships. Railroads allowed cities to connect to each other and mining regions to industrial places. Cars were invented and Orville and Wilbur Wright invented the airplane, which allowed faster travel between continents. The telegraph was invented by Samuel Morse and Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. These communication items allowed people to talk and do business all over the world. In order for the countries to grow, more money needed to be invested. Businesses changed the way they did business by selling parts of their companies, called stock, in order to raise money for their companies. People who bought the stock became small owners of the company. Larger businesses grew and the biggest ones were called monopolies because they would control an entire industry/business. This was bad and good. Competition caused some companies to go away. This made people unemployed. The Government started making laws to help small businesses. The countries that did well were also setting up businesses in other countries and going global. Technology was good in that new things were invented but it also put people out of work. More crimes happened, during this time also, medicine got better, which meant that less people died. This also meant that the population grew. Penicillin was invented and anesthesia was used to relieve pain during surgeries. With the industrial revolution came urbanization. More people were moving from rural areas into the cities for work. This made the cities change in that they needed more buildings, streets, and transportation. The division between the rich and poor also started in that the rich lived in nicer places than the poor. Sidewalks and sewers were important in cities to help people get around and to get rid of waste, which decreased the diseases caused by human waste lying around. Skyscrapers were being built with steel. Even though cities were growing and developing, slums were still found. During the industrial revolution, workers had bad conditions that they worked in. They tried to make it better by forming unions, which gave workers rights and helped regulate and get better working conditions. The unions also helped get the workers better pay for their work and a better quality of life at work. During this time also the two classes of people developed – the nobles and peasants (rich/poor). It was difficult to cross into the other. After a while a third class of people, middle class came about. They were rich, but they were not poor – they were in the middle. They married who they wanted to and families changed as well. Women started campaigning for fairness in marriage, divorce, and property laws. Women also tried to get alcohol limited. Women, after a while, began a movement to allow them to vote. Public schools began to get setup with elementary schools and high schools later on. Colleges and universities grew too. Science also started thinking of new ways of doing things. Atomic energy was thought about and the origins of earth were debated. Charles Darwin began the biggest debate ever by bring up the challenge of evolution. Even while all of this stuff is going on, religion still continued to be a big focus for most people. A new culture, the arts, was being noted. Writers, musicians, composers, and artists were being noted. Novels were being written, plays were being made, and painters were painting famous works of art. Different kinds of art were also beginning, like photography. Different styles of art were born as well.

I believe the most interesting city I would be interested in living in is Washington DC. Washington DC is known for being one of the cities with the best education in the country. They have public and private school. DC has some of the best higher education universities in the country as well, like Georgetown and George Washington University.
(http://dc.about.com/od/familyactivities/u/DCLiving.htm). Washington DC also offers many activities for weekends. There are a lot of monuments, museums, sporting events, Smithsonian, Mount Vernon, and two airports are there that can take you anywhere. Washington DC is a very historical city in that our country is run from this place. The president lives in the White House. Our lawmakers are in the Senate and House of Representatives. The cherry trees blossom in the spring. The Pentagon where our military is run from is there. There are a lot of jobs in DC too. My sister and her husband live there. New York is just north of DC and easy to get to for a long weekend.
http://dc.about.com/od/touristattractions/tp/Top10ThingsToDo.htm. The National Zoo is in DC and there are a lot of different places you can live all around DC.
http://washington.org/visiting/browse-dc/attractions/100-free-things-to-do. There are subways and metro trains to get you from one place to another and you do not need to use your car. Some negative things about living in DC is the number of people that live there and the fact that it is a big target for terrorists. With DC being the place our country is run from, terrorists look at it as a target so they can get rid of our lawmakers, military leaders and the president.