Between the end of the American Civil War and the conclusion of the 19th century, the United States enjoyed a transformative expansion in agriculture, industry, and the spread of new settlements across the North American continent. Population growth skyrocketed by more than double during this same period. A report including details regarding the 1890 census declared the closing of the frontier. Much of the economic growth became concentrated in the Northeastern and Midwestern states. While the northern territories rapidly emerged as the heart of industrialization in the nation with up to 85 percent of manufacturing and processed raw materials, the South remained devastated with ruined infrastructure and decimated lands (McAttee, 2014). Because they were confined to agriculture and the fact that the majority of the war was fought in the South, the confederates struggled to rebuild. Emancipation of slaves in addition to the evaporation of their currency made economic growth almost impossible. Tariffs broke new highs after the Northern control of the Congress; reaching a record 57 percent average well into 1913 (McAttee, 2014). The protective wall provided by these new trade deals allowed westward expansion of agriculture and industry to feed the new populations of cities (McAttee, 2014).
Much of the industrial expansion was based around the connection of the manufacturing corporations based in the Northeast and the grazing and farm areas belonging in the Plains and Midwest states via the completion of the transcontinental railroads. Between 1865 to 1873, mileage rates doubled and later increased by another 50 percent between the years of 1873 and 1881 (Rees, 2016). The freight transported more than quintupled from an average of just over 2 billion tons per mile in 1865 to as immense as over 16 billion tons per mile by 1881. One of the direct beneficiaries of the railroad system’s rapid expansion was the steel and iron industry. Production of these materials increased by nearly 1000 percent between 1867 and 1873 alone (just under 20,000 tons to just under 200,000 tons) (Rees, 2016). By 1881, the spread of growth in steel production exceeded 1,500,000; an outstanding figure from its initial starting point. Despite the fact Great Britain remained a world leader in pig iron production for several decades, the United States managed to surpass their neighbors overseas four times over by the year 1900 (Rees, 2016).
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Another fundamental catalyst in the explosive economic growth of the nation following the events of the war was innovation. The number of patents issued between 1815 to 1897 grew at exponential rates; from as low as 173 to over 45,000 on an annual basis (Gale Encyclopedia of US Economic History, 2000). Although not all patents were representative of useful and intelligently designed products, a great amount of them were; including but not limited to blueprints for what would soon become the typewriter, cash register, mathematical calculators, and the original Kodak camera (Gale Encyclopedia of US Economic History, 2000). Countless other patents simply refined existing technology; which served to further improve the quality of industrialization. Such refinements included faster looms and spindles in textiles, new steel production processes, and the introduction of a revolutionizing new energy source known as electricity. Another incredible invention included Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone. Despite being first introduced in 1876, the total number of phones that spread across the country increased to over 300,000 less than two decades later (Gale Encyclopedia of US Economic History, 2000). Consolidating the astronomical number of patents belonging to Bell was a company known as The American Telephone and Telegraph Company; more commonly referred to as AT&T in the modern world. After electricity was discovered, Thomas Edison would soon introduce the first electrical light as a replacement for the tried and true candles utilized throughout the course of history. Eventually, Nikola Tesla constructed systems to allow high voltage electricity to be transmitted across great distances and would later develop the electric motor, a device with an extremely wide range of uses in the growing economy; specifically, for street and railroad cars (Gale Encyclopedia of US Economic History, 2000). New, innovative products inevitably led the birth of entirely new industries with new techniques and methods reshaping the former industries.
However, rapid industrial growth was ultimately supported after the civil war by the land’s bountiful supply of natural resources. Massive reserves of iron ore, coal, copper and many other metals, timber, water power, petroleum, and fertile farming lands for agriculture allowed industry to develop at amazing, efficient rates (McAttee, 2014). To augment the iron reserves on Lake Superior’s south shore, resources compiled along the Wisconsin-Michigan border and the northern region of Minnesota were developed. Similarly, coal reserves belonging in Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia’s Appalachian Mountains were produced while gold and silver mines were simultaneously developed in Colorado and Nevada. Montana provided the supply of much needed copper that acted as the primary source of electricity’s transportation. The amount of uses for petroleum increased due to the fact many of its components were discovered was powerful cleaning solvents and lubricants. It was only under the very end of this time period that its identity as a primary fuel resource was discovered (McAttee, 2014). Of course, the developing economy required a strong work force to serve as its backbone, and significant figures of immigrants entered the country around this point in time. Those who once lived in rural areas and thrived on agriculture especially members of the South were eventually forced to migrate to new territories to work in manufacturing facilities such as steel mills for men and/or sewing factories for women (McAttee, 2014). Not one female held a job before the civil war due to the fact they were the designated caretakers of household tasks and children. Despite the large supply of new jobs that heavy industry brought to the economy, the average employed American suffered from poor environmental conditions in their workspace and made little to no income (McAttee, 2014).
Although reconstruction after the devastation created from the war was difficult and forced many Americans to relocate to new territories with underpaying jobs, the innovations in technology, industry, and agriculture allowed the nation to revive back to its former glory. The brilliant new railroad system revolutionized transportation. Bountiful resources and rich lands provided the tools to create wondrous new inventions that allowed for superior efficiency and productivity in the workspace. Finally, the contributions of this time period’s citizens earned them the title of the Greatest Generation for successfully resurrecting the economy and allowing the United States to exist at the forefront of human ingenuity.
- Gale Encyclopedia of US Economic History. (2000). Civil War and Industrial Expansion, 1860–1897. Retrieved September 13, 2017, from http://www.encyclopedia.com/
- McAttee, S. (2014). America Becomes an Industrial Nation – The Rise of Business, Industry and
Labor: 1865 – 1920. Retrieved September 13, 2017, from http://www.iroquoiscsd.org - Rees, J. (2016). Industrialization and Urbanization in the United States, 1880–1929. Oxford
Research Encyclopedia.
