Human Progress Between 1871 and 1914 essays

Human Progress Between 1871 and 1914 essays Ever since man abandoned the hunter-gatherer life and began to settle on the land, he has been constantly advancing and developing. Despite a brief lull during the Middle Ages, mankind has been steadily progressing in every aspect of human nature. From technological invention and social development, to science, philosophy and economics, mankind has been relentlessly and endlessly progressing. With few exceptions, humanity has not encountered such a rapid and enormous social, technological and general overhaul of human society, as experienced between 1871- 1914. Over this short 43 year period, Western society would begin to assume its modern day form by making huge advancements in technology and general wealth, which led to the birth of Western commercial culture and sparked mass migration to the urban centres of the new world. The technological developments experienced as a result of the Second Industrial revolution are the hallmark of human progress between 1871 and 1914. In addition to being more geographically widespread, the Second Industrial Revolutions use of steel and iron and application of electricity would lead to developments of a more profound and far-reaching nature than experienced by the First Industrial Revolution. The Second Industrial Revolution created new industries, churning out a plethora of new products at an unprecedented pace. Bicycles and cars quickly began to replace the cumbersome and unpleasant horse buggies in the cities. Many industrialized cities went through complete overhauls where huge boulevards, water mains, sewage systems and gas lighting were created. This process of urban development, called Haussmannization, was created to deal with the new traffic, improve public health and make the cities more modern. In addition to the aforementioned improvements, the very appearance of the modern city began to change. The increased wealth and invention of the early subway system allowed people t...