Essay - Thanks to the Bold Work of the Federalist Papers, the...

Thanks to the bold work of the Federalist Papers, the US Constitution was ratified in ***** late 1780's by the original 13 states. But this new nation would experience a myri*****d ***** other changes by the turn of the century. With a ***** politic*****l system, westward expansionism and manifest destiny ***** guide the new American spirit. Of the most significant transformations on the American l*****scape of the late 18th and early 19th centuries were the parallel phenomena ***** the Industrial Revolution ***** the Second Great Awakening. One an unbridled attempt ***** expand the material world, the other a fanatical endeavor to revive religious sentiment, these movements ***** uniquely positioned in time. They would also pull the ***** psyche in two opposing directions.

The ***** Great ***** was a never-before seen Protestant revival movement that swept through the ***** nation. Preachers sought converts and converts sought church membership in record numbers. On the other side of the equation, entrepreneurs, *****ventors, and businessmen experienced a ***** of ********** own. New technologies were introducing themselves at an alarming rate.

Not all Americans were pleased with the ***** besetting the American lifestyle. Christian evangelists foresaw a "long, immor*****l road towards the fire and brimstone of eternal damnation." Yet people like Samuel S*****r, inventor and businessman, had a more optimistic outlook. While it may be tempting to sympathize ***** people like Charles Finney in light of some of the environmental problems we experience *****day, I ***** clearly w*****h Samuel Slater and o*****rs like him who were ***** realistic and less religious.

***** Slater initiated a mechanical leap forward in the New World by constructing a textile mill in the late 1700s. His business model in itself was revolutionary; he would offer employees company housing ***** a way of life previously un*****ard of. These new industries provided jobs to families and raised the standards of living. Where people were once self-sufficient farmers, they were now working on credit, for money that they would later exchange for food they once grew ***** and luxury items that previously never existed. This new type of economy was dramatically trans*****ming life in the New World by allowing individuals to start ***** businesses. Just ***** *****, I *****lieve that these changes promoted prosperity among the general populace. But these views ***** not shared ***** all Americans.

Religious men ***** preachers like Charles Finney only envisioned the disastrous effects industrialization could have on a society. M*****ny of Finney's beliefs were based on superstiti***** and melodrama, but there ***** some tangible, visible proofs for his theories. For instance, factory conditions were not favourable to workers and in fact, were extremely unhealthy and hazardous. Children were probably forced to work. But it is ***** *****ly that people like Finney saw only negativity where there ***** immense potential for positive development. There has never been a utopian society and likely never will be. As human *****ings, especially ***** beings in an emerging democracy, the best we c***** do is good enough. Industry ***** e*****onomic *****