American Industry
I. Industrialization
by
the
1860s II. The
Industrial
Transformation
A. Contribution
of
the
Civil
War B. Population
Resources C. Money
Capital D. Government
Support E. Growth
of
Technology F. The
Railroads
&
Telegraph III.
The
Rise
of
Big
Business
Industrialization by the 1860s In
1860
there
were
more
than
140,000
factories
in
the
United
States.
About
1.5
million
Americans
worked
in
factories.
Still,
however,
the
United
States
continued
to
be
primarily
an
agricultural
nation.
Seventy
percent
of
all
Americans
were
farmers.
The
great
majority
of
industrial
workers
in
1860
were
women
and
children.
For
this
reason
they
had
little
impact
on
the
political
scene.
This
changed
in
1877
when
a
nationwide
strike
of
railroad
workers
took
place.
Americans
came
to
realize
that
workers
had
the
power
to
bring
America
to
a
standstill.
By
1900
5.5
million
Americans
were
involved
in
industry.
In
1980
only
about
20
percent
of
the
population
even
lived
in
a
rural
environment. It
could
be
argued
that
the
transformation
of
the
United
States
from
a
rural,
agricultural
nation
before
the
Civil
War,
into
an
industrialized
nation
by
1900
is
one
of
the
most
dramatic
changes
in
history.
Before
the
Civil
War,
manufacturing
in
the
United
States
was
on
a
small
scale.
The
United
States
was
about
5th
in
the
world
in
industrial
production.
By
1890
the
United
States
had
become
the
leading
industrial
nation
in
the
world.
By
1900
American
exports
topped
$11
billion
–
by
1924,
$24
billion. The
decades
after
the
Civil
War
shaped
the
growth
patterns
of
modern
American
corporations.
Some
historians
have
argued
that
the
war
did
a
great
deal
to
retard
the
growth
of
industry,
but
it
cannot
be
denied
that
the
demand
for
arms,
supplies,
transportation
and
the
industrial
community.
In
the
decades
after
the
war,
America’s
industry
began
to
apply
the
lessons
learned
in
supplying
the
needs
of
war
to
the
creation
of
consumer
goods. American
industry
had
an
enormous
domestic
market
and
labor
source.
The
population
of
the
United
States
tripled
between
1860
and
1910.
The
nation’s
1
of
10
population
grew
from
30
million
in
1860
to
90
million
in
1910.
During
the
same
period
urbanization
grew
as
never
before.
In
1840
only
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