Gilded Age
This period is the rapid economic development
During the Gilded Age, the U.S. grew to world economic leadership and a lot of new inventions took place, while a Second Industrial Revolution took place. The Second Industrial Revolution introduced electricity, air brakes, communication network, oil, integrated power plants, Standard Oil Industry, and First Transcontinental Railroad.
Railroad mileage tripled between 1860 and 1880, and tripled again by 1920, opening new areas to commercial farming and creating a truly national marketplace and inspiring a boom in coal mining and steel production. The assembly-line came into process, and the subject of mass-production came into place. Machine shops grew rapidly, and they comprised highly skilled workers and engineers.
Both the number of unskilled and skilled workers increased, as their wage rates grew. Increased mechanization of industry is a major mark of the Gilded Age's search for cheaper ways to create more product. By 1900, the process of economic concentration had extended into most branches of industry—a few large corporations, called "trusts", dominated steel, sugar, oil, and meatpacking.
Eventually, the United States produced over one third of certain international goods such as steel and oil. Although there was a panic in 1873, it was quickly suppressed and solved with mass-production and the industrialization. From 1869 to 1879, the US economy grew at a rate of 6.8% for real GDP and 4.5% for real GDP per capita. Since capital and natural resources are complements, the US manufacturing economy became more capital intensive as more and more natural resources were extracted.
During the Gilded Age, the U.S. grew to world economic leadership and a lot of new inventions took place, while a Second Industrial Revolution took place. The Second Industrial Revolution introduced electricity, air brakes, communication network, oil, integrated power plants, Standard Oil Industry, and First Transcontinental Railroad.
Railroad mileage tripled between 1860 and 1880, and tripled again by 1920, opening new areas to commercial farming and creating a truly national marketplace and inspiring a boom in coal mining and steel production. The assembly-line came into process, and the subject of mass-production came into place. Machine shops grew rapidly, and they comprised highly skilled workers and engineers.
Both the number of unskilled and skilled workers increased, as their wage rates grew. Increased mechanization of industry is a major mark of the Gilded Age's search for cheaper ways to create more product. By 1900, the process of economic concentration had extended into most branches of industry—a few large corporations, called "trusts", dominated steel, sugar, oil, and meatpacking.
Eventually, the United States produced over one third of certain international goods such as steel and oil. Although there was a panic in 1873, it was quickly suppressed and solved with mass-production and the industrialization. From 1869 to 1879, the US economy grew at a rate of 6.8% for real GDP and 4.5% for real GDP per capita. Since capital and natural resources are complements, the US manufacturing economy became more capital intensive as more and more natural resources were extracted.