Industrialization

Video Transcription
Pre-Civil War Indiana was mostly agriculture, however that began to change after the war. Giant factories built to produce farm equipment, industrial products, and household goods to supply the nation’s industrial growth. The factories needed thousands of workers, including children, to make them run. Some of the new workers were Hoosiers moving from farms to cities, but many more were newly arriving immigrants. These factories, and their workers, led to rapid growth of Indiana cities like Evansville, Fort Wayne, Gary, and Indianapolis.

Transportation networks were created across the state to move Indiana’s agricultural and industrial products around the region, state, and the nation. At first, canals were built to transport Indiana’s goods to market. Canals were replaced by railroads that did not rely on water to connect products to markets. The Monon, Anderson Beltway, and the B&O were only three of the hundreds of rail lines that ran through Indiana.

By the early 1900s, Indiana was also a center of automobile production. Indiana was on its way to becoming known as the "Crossroads of America." Industrialization brought great wealth to Indiana, but it was concentrated in the hands of a few. The rapid industrial growth took a toll on Indiana’s environment and on the workers who supplied the labor. What was then - and is today - the price of "progress?" And who should foot the bill?

Primary Sources