Question

1. Identify the factors that led to rapid economic growth and industrial expansion after the Civil War(See especially Chapter 16 “The Nation Industrializes”)

Answer 1

The period in the United States between the American Civil War ( 1861–65) and the end of the 19th century was marked by tremendous expansion of industry and agriculture, as well as the spread of settlement across the continent. During this time the United States population more than doubled. The Census Bureau declared the frontier closed in its 1890 census report. The Northeast, Midwest and plains states concentrated much of economic growth. The South remained largely agricultural, with total industrial production amounting to about half that of the State of New York.

With 85 per cent of the nation 's manufacturing, importing raw materials from the Midwest and West, the Northeast clearly emerged as the nation's industrial center. Thanks to Southern resistance and the powerful role the Southern states held in the Senate, the North had been forced to postpone or abandon many of its national economic policy priorities for several decades before the Civil War. As soon as the Southern states seceded Congress began enacting this delayed agenda. The Morrill Tariff of 1861 increased the average rate to 20 per cent, breaking more than 30 years of decreasing tariffs

Most of the industrial development during the post-Civil War years was focused on linking the urban northeast with the Midwest and Plains farm and grazing areas, and completing the transcontinental railroads. Railway mileage in the United States doubled between 1865 and 1873, and rose between 1873 and 1881 by an additional 50 percent. The volume of freight transported increased from 2,16 billion ton / mile in 1865 to 7,48 billion in 1873 and 16,06 billion in 1881. One major beneficiary of the growth of the railway network was the iron and steel industry.

Innovation was an important part of the enormous economic development that followed the Civil War. The number of patents granted by the Patent Office continuously increased. The department granted 173 patents in 1815, with 1,045 granted in 1844, and 7,653 issued in 1860. The innovation rate went up tremendously after the Civil War. During this time , at least 15,000 patents were issued annually, and in 1897, 45,661 patents were issued. While not every patent was a successful product, many such as the typewriter, cash register, calculating and adding machines and the Kodak camera did.

The economy 's growing scale has bought up several structural changes. The larger size of industrial plants and enterprises, and the more advanced technologies they used, made their funding more difficult and expensive. Investment bankers have been playing an increasingly important role in the economy, providing the capital that has fuelled growth. J. P. Morgan was among those emerging players who became more prominent in the nation's economy. The resource banks had represented a high rate of savings and investment among U.S. people following the Civil War. The new US industrial economy evolved and took a distinct form in the years between the American Civil War and the end of the nineteenth century. The US has emerged as one of the world's strongest economies. Its rate of growth, vast natural resource reserves and a stable political system positioned it well for continued growth.