Question

How have technological developments caused societal change throughout history?

Answer 1

One example of how technology has caused social change includes the creation of the assembly line and interchangeable parts. The assembly line and interchangeable parts resulted in the ability of businesses all over the world to mass produce items. In order to mass produce items, businesses need unskilled workers to be able to repeat tasks constantly within a work day. This caused an increase in the demand for unskilled workers.

This demand for unskilled workers provided millions of job opportunities for immigrants coming into the US, especially during the late 19th and early 20th century. Along with this, the development of the assembly line and interchangeable parts indirectly leads to urbanization. This was a massive movement of families from the countryside to the city in order to seek new job opportunities as factories.