The rise of the United States in the long 19th century, during which Britain became the hegemonic power, was exceptional. Unlike discussions of the American manufacturing system that emerged in the mid-19th century, the U.S. divergence from and overta...
The rise of the United States in the long 19th century, during which Britain became the hegemonic power, was exceptional. Unlike discussions of the American manufacturing system that emerged in the mid-19th century, the U.S. divergence from and overtaking of Britain did not begin in the mid-19th century, but rather in the late 19th century. Comparing the mechanized sectors of the Industrial Revolution’s core industries (iron, metals, cotton textiles), the United States overtook Britain in the 1890s. This overtaking and divergence was grounded in historically formed rather than given conditions. Differences in the composition of the labor force between Britain and the United States played a significant role. Compared to Britain, the American manufacturing workforce was characterized by an overwhelming proportion of male labor and a very low proportion of child labor. Religion, policies on child labor and education, and technological differences all contributed to this. After the Civil War, as wages rose for the overwhelmingly male workforce, particularly skilled labor, the incentive for labor-saving technological progress through intensive use of capital and energy became much stronger in the United States. Modernization of engineering and higher education in the late 19th century also played a crucial role in sustaining its lead. It underpinned the technological and organizational foundations of the corporate and managerial revolutions. After World War II, the social base of American hegemony was established based on the compromise between capital and labor, marking the full onset of the American Century. From the late 20th century, this process reversed as financial globalization and global supply chains expanded, yet the social base of American hegemony faced a crisis of reproduction. As Washington consensus failed to resolve these contradictions and rebuild its social base consistent with the U.S. hegemony, populist tendencies in American culture and politics have deepened.