The Industrial Revolution was a time of great inventiveness and insight that would change the world forever. Machines were being developed that required neither manpower nor power, and operated at far greater efficiency than their human counterparts could ever hope to match. Likewise, with the inventions of mass transportation resources, products and people were transported in greater numbers across the country, at much higher rates. Of course, this in turn had a great impact, not only on the Americans whose world was built by these new machines and factories, forged in the Industrial Revolution, and who themselves came to profit from the products of these inventions; It also had a huge effect on how American society came to view the situation. At that time, greater resources could suddenly be pooled, whether material or human, where they could not be pooled a century or two before. Suddenly, people from completely different backgrounds were able to meet, exchange ideas, make connections, create new businesses and associations where they could never have dreamed of doing so only with the previous generation. The vast networks of rail lines that crisscross the United States not only allowed people from different parts of the country to suddenly exchange goods and services, but also to form new communities in previously unexplored territories of the American West. +++====In short, American life was changed by the Industrial Revolution, not only in terms of materials and increased production, but also in terms of American standards of living, but also in the way Americans lived and worked together. The American public began to hail technological advances as signifying progress in society. However, we must remember that the influence of the Industrial Revolution on American society had other social, cultural, and political consequences; those that lead to things like unions, as well as concerns about citizens' rights. Take for example radio and television. Radio and television (before the advent of the Internet) had a monumental effect on transmitting culture, products, and ideas across vast distances in the United States. Suddenly, Americans could identify with the horrors of war abroad, while learning about each other's culture or products. Of course, this didn't equate to being able to transport them there, although newer, better, faster forms of public transportation would be developed to facilitate this. But all these developments pale in comparison to almost half a century later, with the rise of the Internet and the multiplication of its uses today. +++====Of course, the Internet (in some ways) is a lot like the steam engine and mass transportation in that it facilitates more commerce, more social interactions among Americans, and a greater sense of common identity. These forms of technology will certainly continue to change the social and cultural situation of the American people, compounding the effects of the Industrial Revolution in American history; that is, worsening the social, cultural, economic, technological, and geographic changes that accompany technology. However, the diversity of ways in which this