| INDUSTRIALIZATION: 1850 - 1900 And striding boldly and tall, this stout yeoman land Put its muscle and sweat to the work now at hand. But while harvests did soar and fed the whole nation, The bright light called the future was industrialization. As engines powered by steam became the great rage And the heavy clamor of mills set the beat for the age. While hard-at-work brains wrote the tune for sucess -- Like the steel cheaply made by the Bessemer Process. And the glow of invention and of far-reaching vision Was soon brought to full beam by such boundless ambition. And to make and to build and to grow and progess, The great might of machines would be put to the test. As steel rails took those trains to all places and parts, Linking makers and markets and truly setting off sparks In all manner of goods locomotives require: Coal, lumber and steel saw new orders catch fire! Now, the railroads were run by a fair share of crooks, Men greedy and ruthless, with every trick in the books. Whose bribes to the law and sly deals with each other Would make you believe they'd cheat their own mother. But with their network so vast, leaving no region wanting, Industry scaled to new heights, dizzying and daunting, While the world of hard metal, moving upwards and on Brought new luster to living, in parts thither and yon. Indeed, steel is so light, yet so sturdy and strong, Those marvels called skyscrapers soon came along. While coal mines and shipyards all started to thrive With a buzzing to match the most hectic beehive. And our country would teem with such new-fangled goods -- Which folks might order by mail from far-flung neighborhoods. So by year 1900, the U.S. could claim It manufactured more stuff than any place you could name. |
| Worksheet # 82 |
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