In the Northeast, industrialization was huge tot he economy of the northeast. The short growing season meant that the people needed some way to make money during the colder months. Manufacturing was a perfect fit. It would bring about greater specialization and allow for more goods to be created faster and at a cheaper price by fewer people. This meant the common laborer with no real set of skills could gain employment running a machine or performing one certain task everyday for their entire shift. The business owners also benefited. They could employ workers at a very cheap price. They would also employ women and children at an even cheaper price. This push for work led many people to leave farms and go to the cities where the factories were. This migration led to many cities to be overwhelmed and overpopulated. This led to diseases and sickness to be easily spread. Housing was hard to find and resulted in the creation of tenement housing. The common laborers while benefiting from steady work also suffered from terrible work conditions. Many of them doing the same monotonous work often led to terrible accidents. Some workers would lose fingers, arms, or legs. Those even more unfortunate would lose their lives. The laborers also had to work long shifts, usually a minimum of 12 hours. Hygiene in the factories, especially meat factories was anything but sanitary and acceptable (See Upton Sinclair's The Jungle). Industrialization and the benefits or problems really depends upon which side you were on. Consumers and business owners saw the benefits outweighing the problems. Cheaper prices and goods that more easily attainable allowed them to over look some of the "problems." Laborers however may have viewed it initially as a good thing until the realization that they could be forever damaged or dead. However, often by that point, they were in despite need of a job to care for their families that they had to take the job despite the dangers.
The South saw little need to industrialize. Some manufacturing was set up, but it was small scale. The money was in the farming of cash crops like tobacco or cotton.
