Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Series Editor's Foreword
- Introduction: The Business of America
- Prologue: A Hothouse for Economic Growth
- 1 The Marvel of Men and Machines
- 2 The Lure of Lovely and Lucrative Land
- 3 The Defeat of Distance and Desolation
- 4 The Potential of Plentiful Power
- 5 The Fabrication of Familiar Forms
- 6 Bargaining with Behemoths
- 7 The Collision of City and Country
- 8 The Mastery of Mass Markets
- Epilogue: The Boundaries of Big Business
- Sources and Suggested Readings
- Index
Series Editor's Foreword
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Series Editor's Foreword
- Introduction: The Business of America
- Prologue: A Hothouse for Economic Growth
- 1 The Marvel of Men and Machines
- 2 The Lure of Lovely and Lucrative Land
- 3 The Defeat of Distance and Desolation
- 4 The Potential of Plentiful Power
- 5 The Fabrication of Familiar Forms
- 6 Bargaining with Behemoths
- 7 The Collision of City and Country
- 8 The Mastery of Mass Markets
- Epilogue: The Boundaries of Big Business
- Sources and Suggested Readings
- Index
Summary
In the nineteenth century, the United States underwent a remarkable transformation from an economy based on the production of raw materials and subsistence agriculture to an expanding market economy. In this transformation, handicraft production was replaced by factory production; an elaborate canal system and, later, railroads supplanted a poor transportation system based on rivers and seasonal roads; and rural life began to give way to urban life. By the end of the nineteenth century, the United States had outdistanced England, France, and Germany in the rate of economic growth, per capita wealth, and general prosperity.
These changes were more than just material; they included a shift in mentality. Tried and true patterns of behavior no longer appeared to provide a true compass for responding to this market revolution. Social and cultural life had been reconfigured and continued to undergo startling changes. The only constant seemed to be change itself.
This tremendous growth presents to the student of history important and fascinating questions: How exactly did this happen? What explains American economic success? These questions have intrinsic value for understanding American history. The obvious explanation is that the United States was uniquely blessed with an abundance of natural resources, industrious and innovative people, and a political and legal system that encouraged economic growth, but there is more to the story.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Genesis of Industrial America, 1870–1920 , pp. xi - xiiPublisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2007