The latter part of the nineteenth century was a time of unprecedented economic growth in the United States. The advances made during, and the effects of, the industrial revolution of the late eighteenth century put the US on a course for increased productivity and economic growth in the late nineteenth century.


The nation now stretched across the North American continent from the Atlantic to the pacific coasts. Connected by railroad lines, transportation between the cities and far off areas of the nation now took days rather than weeks and months. The industrialized northeast was able to quickly and efficiently receive the resources it needed to manufacture goods and transport them for sale elsewhere. The west was also able to take advantage of the new transcontinental railroad as the abundant resources of the nation now could be transported from coast to coast and all places in-between quickly and cheaply, increasing productivity and reducing prices. From different areas came cattle, fruits, vegetables, lumber, steel, coal, cotton, oil and much more. Abundance indeed.


As productivity grew due to increased industry, American cities began to grow larger. Railroads once again provided a quick and inexpensive means of transportation for the ever-increasing number of people from all over the nation to take advantage of the ever-growing job market in the cities. American farm families flocked to the cities to work as well as millions of European immigrants.


Between the 1870's and 1880's, eight million European immigrants came to the United States. The "unlimited immigration" policy at this time served to increase the size of the population and labor force. Immigrants provided cheap labor usually in factories and mines. The huge increase in the population raised production, and as the number of workers increased so did the number of consumers to purchase goods and services.


Technological progress was crucial to...