Summary

Large-scale industrialization had a huge impact on the United States between 1870 and 1930. As the data in this module suggest, the "typical" American would no longer be a farmer but an industrial worker. The American economy was catapulted in a relatively short time to international ascendancy. States where industry was booming grew in population and in power, both economic and political. These developments, in turn, affected urbanization (since most large-scale industries required concentrations of labor), immigration (because the economy could accommodate millions of incoming workers), and foreign affairs (where the United States went rapidly from an agrarian, "emerging" nation to an industrial super-power).