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The economic history of the United States has its roots in European settlements in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries. The American colonies progressed from marginally successful colonial economies to a small, independent farming economy, which in 1776 became the United States of America. In 230 years the United States grew to a huge, integrated, industrialized economy that makes up over a quarter of the world economy. The main causes were a large unified market, a supportive political-legal system, vast areas of highly productive farmlands, vast natural resources (especially timber, coal and oil), and an entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to investing in material and human capital. The economy has maintained high wages, attracting immigrants by the millions from all over the world. Motto: (traditional) In God We Trust (official, 1956–present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at the federal level; English de facto Government Federal Republic  - President George W. Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence - Declared - Recognized... The world economy can be evaluated in various ways, depending on the model used, and this valuation can then be represented in various ways (for example, in 2006 US dollars). ...

Pre-colonial

While they traded among themselves, Native Americans had little contact outside the Americas before European settlers began arriving. Their economic systems, for example the economy of the Iroquois, involved various combinations of hunting and gathering and agriculture. Native American economies were profoundly altered by the arrival of Europeans and the resulting arrival of disease, influx of European goods, business relations with the Europeans regarding the fur trade, acquisition of firearms, engagement in wars, loss of land, and confinement to reservations. This article is about the people indigenous to the United States. ... Iroquois women at work grinding corn or dried berries (1664 engraving). ... In anthropology, the hunter-gatherer way of life is that led by certain societies of the Neolithic Era based on the exploitation of wild plants and animals. ... An Alberta fur trader in the 1890s. ...

In 1492, Christopher Columbus, sailing under the Spanish flag, set out to find Asia and happened upon a "New World." For the next 100 years, English, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, and French explorers sailed from Europe for the New World, looking for gold, riches, religious merit, honor, and glory. But the North American wilderness offered early explorers little glory and less gold, so most did not stay. The people who eventually did settle North America arrived later. In 1607 a small band of settlers built England's first permanent settlement in what was to become the United States at Jamestown, Virginia. Christopher Columbus (1451 – May 20, 1506) was a navigator, colonizer, and explorer and one of the first Europeans to explore the Americas after the Vikings. ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... At Jamestown Settlement, replicas of Christopher Newports 3 ships are docked in the harbor. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ...

Colonial era

Shipping scene in Salem, Massachusetts, a shipping hub, in the 1770s

Revolutionary era cartoon showing US sawing of the horn of a cow (symbolizing a break from British commerce) with a distressed Englishman watching as other European powers wait to collect milk. The cartoon represents the commercial status of the US during the Revolution.

Early settlers had a variety of reasons for coming to America. The Puritans of Massachusetts wanted to create a purified religion in New England. Other colonies, such as Virginia, were founded principally as business ventures. England's success at colonizing what would become the United States was due in large part to its use of charter companies. Charter companies were groups of stockholders (usually merchants and wealthy landowners) who sought personal economic gain and, perhaps, wanted also to advance England's national goals. While the private sector financed the companies, the King provided each project with a charter or grant conferring economic rights as well as political and judicial authority. The colonies generally did not show quick profits, however, and the English investors often turned over their colonial charters to the settlers. The political implications, although not realized at the time, were enormous. The colonists were left to build their own lives, their own communities, and their own economy. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (845x603, 250 KB) Summary http://memory. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (845x603, 250 KB) Summary http://memory. ... Image File history File links American_revolution_cow_commerce_cartoon. ... Image File history File links American_revolution_cow_commerce_cartoon. ... The Puritans were members of a group of radical Protestants which developed in England after the Reformation. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... The arms of the British South Africa Company A chartered company is an association formed by investors or shareholders for the purpose of trade, exploration and colonisation. ...

What early colonial prosperity there was resulted from trapping and trading in furs. But throughout the colonies, people lived primarily on small farms and were self-sufficient. In the few small cities and among the larger plantations of South Carolina, and Virginia, some necessities and virtually all luxuries were imported in return for tobacco, rice, and indigo exports. An Alberta fur trader in the 1890s. ... A sugarcane plantation at Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, 2005 A plantation is a large tract of monoculture, as a tree plantation, a cotton plantation, a tea plantation or a tobacco plantation. ... Official language(s) English Capital Columbia Largest city Columbia Largest metro area Columbia Area  Ranked 40th  - Total 34,726 sq mi (82,965 km²)  - Width 200 miles (320 km)  - Length 260 miles (420 km)  - % water 6  - Latitude 32° 2′ N to 35° 13′ N  - Longitude 78° 32′ W to 83... This article is about the U.S. state. ... Shredded tobacco leaf for pipe smoking Tobacco can also be pressed into plugs and sliced into flakes Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the fresh leaves of plants in the genus Nicotiana. ... For other uses, see Rice (disambiguation). ... Indigo is the color on the spectrum between about 450 and 420 nm in wavelength, placing it between blue and violet. ... Economics In economics, an export is any good or commodity, shipped or otherwise transported out of a country, province, town to another part of the world, typically for use in trade or sale. ...

Supportive industries developed as the colonies grew. A variety of specialized sawmills, and gristmills appeared. Colonists established shipyards to build fishing fleets and, in time, trading vessels. They also built small iron forges. By the 18th century, regional patterns of development had become clear: the New England colonies relied on ship-building and sailing to generate wealth; plantations (many using slave labor) in Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas grew tobacco, rice, and indigo; and the middle colonies of New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware shipped general crops and furs. Except for slaves, standards of living were generally high--higher, in fact, than in England itself. Because English investors had withdrawn, the field was open to entrepreneurs among the colonists. This article is about the region in the United States of America. ... Slave redirects here. ... Official language(s) None (English, de facto) Capital Annapolis Largest city Baltimore Largest metro area Baltimore-Washington Metropolitan Area Area  Ranked 42nd  - Total 12,407 sq mi (32,133 km²)  - Width 101 miles (145 km)  - Length 249 miles (400 km)  - % water 21  - Latitude 37° 53′ N to 39° 43′ N... This article is about the state. ... This article is about the U.S. State. ... This article is about the U.S. state. ... This article is about the U.S. State of Delaware. ... The Standard of living refers to the quality and quantity of goods and services available to people. ...

By 1770, the North American colonies were ready, both economically and politically, to become part of the emerging self-government movement that had dominated English politics since the time of James I (1603-1625). Disputes developed with England over taxation and other matters; Americans hoped for a modification of English taxes and regulations that would satisfy their demand for more self-government. Few thought the mounting quarrel with the English government would lead to all-out war against the British and to independence for the colonies. James VI and I (19 June 1566 – 27 March 1625) was King of Scots as James VI, and King of England and King of Ireland as James I. He ruled in Scotland as James VI from 24 July 1567, when he was only one year old, succeeding his mother Mary... A tax is an involuntary fee paid by individuals or businesses to a state, or to functional equivalents of a state, including tribes, secessionist movements or revolutionary movements. ...

Like the English political turmoil of the 17th and 18th centuries, the American Revolution (1775-1783) was both political and economic, bolstered by an emerging middle class with a rallying cry of "unalienable rights to life, liberty, and property" -- a phrase openly borrowed from English philosopher John Locke's Second Treatise on Civil Government (1690). While political separation from England may not have been the majority of colonists' original goal, independence and the creation of a new nation -- the United States -- was the ultimate result. It was a prosperous time. John Trumbulls Declaration of Independence, showing the five-man committee in charge of drafting the Declaration in 1776 as it presents its work to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia The American Revolution refers to the period during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen... For other persons named John Locke, see John Locke (disambiguation). ... Second treatise on civil government was written by John Locke. ...

New nation

Chart 1: trends in economic growth, 1700-1850

The U.S. Constitution, adopted in 1789, established that the entire nation -- stretching then from Maine to Georgia, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi Valley -- was a unified, or common market. There were to be no internal tariffs or taxes on interstate commerce. The extent of federal power was much debated, with Alexander Hamilton taking a very broad view as the first secretary of the treasury. He succeeded in building a strong national credit based on a national debt held by rich people (who would then have an interest in keeping the government in healthy condition), and funded by tariffs on imported goods. Hamilton believed the United States should pursue economic growth through diversified shipping, manufacturing, and banking. He proposed measures like protective tariff to pay the costs of government, along with a tax on whiskey that western farmers strongly resented. He sought and achieved Congressional authority to create the First Bank of the United States in 1791, which lasted until 1811. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1056x768, 79 KB) Summary chart of economic growth; from spreadsheet Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1056x768, 79 KB) Summary chart of economic growth; from spreadsheet Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby release it into the public domain. ... Page I of the Constitution of the United States of America Page II of the United States Constitution Page III of the United States Constitution Page IV of the United States Constitution The Syng inkstand, with which the Constitution was signed The Constitution of the United States is the supreme... Official language(s) None (English and French de facto) Capital Augusta Largest city Portland Area  Ranked 39th  - Total 33,414 sq mi (86,542 km²)  - Width 210 miles (338 km)  - Length 320 miles (515 km)  - % water 13. ... Length 6,270 km Elevation of the source 450 m Average discharge 16,200 m³/s Area watershed 2,980,000 km² Origin Lake Itasca Mouth Gulf of Mexico Basin countries United States (98. ... Alexander Hamilton (November 20, 1755 or 1757 - July 12, 1804) was the first Secretary of the Treasury of the United States, lawyer, Founding Father, American politician, leading statesman, political economist,] financier, and political theorist. ... The United States Secretary of the Treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, concerned with finance and monetary matters, and, until 2003, some issues of national security and defense. ... It has been suggested that Tariff in American history be merged into this article or section. ... The First Bank of the United States was a bank chartered by the United States Congress on February 25, 1791. ...

Thomas Jefferson and James Madison opposed a strong central government but they could not stop Hamilton. Jeffersonians closed the national bank in 1811, but reversed themselves and created the Second Bank of the United States in 1816. Thomas Jefferson based his philosophy on protecting the common man from political and economic tyranny. He particularly praised small farmers as "the most valuable citizens." In 1801, Jefferson became president and turned to promoting a more decentralized, agrarian democracy called Jeffersonian democracy. The Second Bank of the United States was a bank chartered in 1816, five years after the expiration of the First Bank of the United States. ... Thomas Jefferson (13 April 1743 N.S.–4 July 1826) was the third President of the United States (1801–09), the principal author of the Declaration of Independence (1776), and one of the most influential Founding Fathers for his promotion of the ideals of Republicanism in the United States. ... Portrait of Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale in 1800. ...

Expansion and growth

"The First Cotton Gin" conjectural image from 1869

Cotton, at first a small-scale crop in the South, boomed following Eli Whitney's invention in 1793 of the cotton gin, a machine that separated raw cotton from seeds and other waste. Soon, large plantations, supported by slave labor, made some families very wealthy. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x821, 134 KB) Summary First cotton gin from Harpers Weekly source url: http://memory. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x821, 134 KB) Summary First cotton gin from Harpers Weekly source url: http://memory. ... For other uses, see Cotton (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Eli Whitney (disambiguation). ... A cotton gin on display at the Eli Whitney Museum. ...

Millions moved to the more fertile farmland of the Midwest. Government-created national roads and waterways, such as the Cumberland Pike (1818) and the Erie Canal (1825), helped new settlers migrate west and helped move western farm produce to market. The Whig Party supported Clay's American System, which proposed to build internal improvements (roads, canals, harbors) protect industry, and create a strong national bank. The Whig legislation program was blocked by the Democrats, however. Midwest States (United States of America, ND to OH) The Midwest is a common name for a region of the United States of America. ... Mile markers can still be found along the National Road; this one is located in Columbus, Ohio. ... Year 1818 (MDCCCXVIII) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The Erie Canal (currently part of the New York State Canal System) is a canal in New York State, United States, that runs from the Hudson River to Lake Erie, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. ... Year 1825 (MDCCCXXV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian Calendar (or a common year starting on Thursday of the 12-day slower Julian calendar). ... The Monkey System or Every One For Himself Henry Clay says Walk in and see the new improved original grand American System! The cages are labeled: Home, Consumption, Internal, Improv. This 1831 cartoon ridiculing Clays American System depicts monkeys, labeled as being different parts of a nations economy...

Scene of Lockport on the Erie Canal (W. H. Bartlett 1839)

President Andrew Jackson (1829-1837) opposed the Second National Bank, which he believed favored the entrenched interests of his enemies. When he was elected for a second term, Jackson opposed renewing the bank's charter, and Congress supported him. Jackson opposed paper money and demanded the government be paid in gold and silver coins. The Panic of 1837 stopped business growth for three years. Image File history File links Lockport_bartlett_color. ... Image File history File links Lockport_bartlett_color. ... For other uses, see Andrew Jackson (disambiguation). ... Whig campaign poster blames Van Buren for hard times (1840). ...

Railroads were, by far, one of the most important contributions to the economy. Many contrasting views exist regarding whether the railroad was "indispensable" or not, but it was undoubtedly very important. The railroad paved the way to new developments in running large-scale business operations, creating a blueprint for future businesses to use. They were first to encounter managerial complexities, labor union issues, and problems of competition. Due to these radical innovations, the railroad became the first large-scale business enterprise. railroads redirects here. ...

Panics did not curtail rapid U.S. economic growth during the 19th century. Long term demographic growth, expansion into new farmlands, and creation of new factories continued. New inventions and capital investment led to the creation of new industries and economic growth. As transportation improved, new markets continuously opened. The steamboat made river traffic faster and cheaper, but development of railroads had an even greater effect, opening up vast stretches of new territory for development. Like canals and roads, railroads received large amounts of government assistance in their early building years in the form of land grants. But unlike other forms of transportation, railroads also attracted a good deal of domestic and European private investment. For other uses, see Steamboat (disambiguation). ...

Some people made fortunes overnight, but many people lost their savings. Nevertheless, a combination of vision and foreign investment, combined with the discovery of gold and a major commitment of America's public and private wealth, enabled the nation to develop a large-scale railroad system, establishing the base for the country's industrialization. Industrialisation (or industrialization) or an industrial revolution (in general, with lowercase letters) is a process of social and economic change whereby a human society is transformed from a pre-industrial to an industrial state . ...

Main article: Rail transport in the United States

1864, Pennsylvania oil drilling early in the history of the American oil industry

Sharecropper plowing in Alabama (1937)

The Industrial Revolution began in Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, and it quickly spread to the United States. By 1860, when Abraham Lincoln was elected president, 16 percent of the U.S. population lived in urban areas, and a third of the nation's income came from manufacturing. Urbanized industry was limited primarily to the Northeast; cotton cloth production was the leading industry, with the manufacture of shoes, woolen clothing, and machinery also expanding. Many new workers were immigrants. Between 1845 and 1855, some 300,000 European immigrants arrived annually. Most were poor and remained in eastern cities, often at ports of arrival. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Image File history File links Penn_oil_1864. ... Image File history File links Penn_oil_1864. ... The history of the petroleum industry in North America began nearly simultaneously in Canada and the United States. ... Image File history File links Sharecropper_plowing_loc. ... Image File history File links Sharecropper_plowing_loc. ... A Watt steam engine, the steam engine that propelled the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the world. ... For other uses, see Abraham Lincoln (disambiguation). ...

Civil War and Reconstruction: 1860s

The South, on the other hand, remained rural and dependent on the North for capital and manufactured goods. Southern economic interests, including slavery, could be protected by political power only as long as the South controlled the federal government. The Republican Party, organized in 1856, represented the industrialized North. In 1860, Republicans and their presidential candidate, Abraham Lincoln were speaking hesitantly on slavery, but they were much clearer on economic policy. In 1861, they successfully pushed adoption of a protective tariff. In 1862, the first Pacific railroad was chartered. In 1863 a national banking system was established to finance the American Civil War; in every city a "First National Bank" was established, and many still exist. GOP redirects here. ... It has been suggested that Tariff in American history be merged into this article or section. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total...

The industrial advantages of the North over the South helped secure a Northern victory in the American Civil War (1861-1865). The Northern victory sealed the destiny of the nation and its economic system. The slave-labor system was abolished, making the large southern cotton plantations much less profitable. Northern industry, which had expanded rapidly before and during the war, surged ahead. Industrialists came to dominate many aspects of the nation's life, including social and political affairs. The planter aristocracy of the South disappeared. The Confederate States of America had an agrarian-based economy that relied heavily on slave-worked plantations for the production of cotton for export to Europe and the northern US states. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... Aristocrat redirects here. ...

The devastation of the South was great and poverty ensued. During Reconstruction railroad construction was heavily subsidized (with much corruption), but the region maintained its dependence on cotton. Former slaves became wage laborers, tenant farmers, or sharecroppers. They were joined by many poor whites, as the population grew faster than the economy. As late as 1940 the only significant manufacturing industries were textile mills in the Carolinas, and some steel in Alabama. For other uses, see Reconstruction (disambiguation). ... A tenant farmer is one who resides on and farms land owned by a landlord. ... Sharecropping is a system of farming in which employee farmers work a parcel of land in return for a fraction of the parcels crops. ...

The Gilded Age: 1870s-1890s

Steel workers in 1905, Meadville PA

The rapid economic development following the Civil War laid the groundwork for the modern U.S. industrial economy. By the late 1890's, the USA had supplanted Britain as the world's largest economy.^[1] Image File history File links Steel_industry_inside_loc. ... Image File history File links Steel_industry_inside_loc. ...

An explosion of new discoveries and inventions took place, causing such profound changes that some termed the results a "Second Industrial Revolution." Oil was discovered in western Pennsylvania. Refrigeration railroad cars came into use. The telephone, phonograph, typewriter and electric light were invented. And by the dawn of the 20th century, cars were replacing carriages. The Second Industrial Revolution (1865–1900) is a phrase used by some historians to describe an assumed second phase of the Industrial Revolution. ... Synthetic motor oil being poured. ... For other uses, see Telephone (disambiguation). ... Tonearm redirects here. ... Mechanical desktop typewriters, such as this Underwood Five, were long time standards of government agencies, newsrooms, and sales offices. ... Car redirects here. ...

Parallel to these achievements was the development of the nation's industrial infrastructure. Coal was found in abundance in the Appalachian Mountains from Pennsylvania south to Kentucky. Large iron mines opened in the Lake Superior region of the upper Midwest. Steel mills thrived in places where these two important raw materials could be brought together to produce steel. Large copper and silver mines opened, followed by lead mines and cement factories. The Appalachian Mountains are a vast system of mountains in eastern North America. ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area  Ranked 37th  - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 1. ... General Name, symbol, number iron, Fe, 26 Chemical series transition metals Group, period, block 8, 4, d Appearance lustrous metallic with a grayish tinge Standard atomic weight 55. ... For the Quebec municipality, see Lac-Supérieur. ... Steel Mill was one of Bruce Springsteens early bands and performed regularly on the Jersey Shore, in Virginia, and also in California from 1969 till January 1971. ...

As industry grew larger, it developed mass-production methods. Frederick W. Taylor pioneered the field of scientific management in the late 19th century, carefully plotting the functions of various workers and then devising new, more efficient ways for them to do their jobs. Also fueling mass production was the increase in efficiency due to the electrification of factories from steam power to electric power. Electric line shafts and electric group drives improved efficiency through reduced energy loss, improved work environment, reduction in fire hazards and ability to reorganize factories into specialized departments. (True mass production was the inspiration of Henry Ford, who in 1913 adopted the moving assembly line, with each worker doing one simple task in the production of automobiles. In what turned out to be a farsighted action, Ford offered a very generous wage -- $5 a day -- to his workers, enabling many of them to buy the automobiles they made, helping the industry to expand.) Mass production (also called flow production, repetitive flow production or series production) is the production of large amounts of standardized products on production lines. ... Frederick Winslow Taylor (March 20, 1856 - March 21, 1915) was an American engineer who sought to improve industrial efficiency. ... Henry Ford (1919) Henry Ford (July 30, 1863 – April 7, 1947) was the founder of the Ford Motor Company and father of modern assembly lines used in mass production. ...

1904 cartoon entitled "Next!" depicting Standard Oil as a ruthless octopus

The "Gilded Age" of the second half of the 19th century was the epoch of tycoons. Many Americans came to idealize these businessmen who amassed vast financial empires. Often their success lay in seeing the long-range potential for a new service or product, as John D. Rockefeller did with oil. They were fierce competitors, single-minded in their pursuit of financial success and power. Other giants in addition to Rockefeller and Ford included Jay Gould, who made his money in railroads; J. Pierpont Morgan, banking; and Andrew Carnegie, steel. Some tycoons were honest according to business standards of their day; others, however, used force, bribery, and guile to achieve their wealth and power. For better or worse, business interests acquired significant influence over government. Image File history File links Standard_oil_octopus_loc_color. ... Image File history File links Standard_oil_octopus_loc_color. ... <math> </math></math> The Breakers, a gilded-age mansion in Newport, Rhode Island. ... John Davison Rockefeller, Sr. ... Jay Gould (1836-1892) Jason Gould (May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American financier. ... John Pierpont Morgan (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913), American financier and banker, was born in Hartford, Connecticut, a son of Junius Spencer Morgan (1813–1890), who was a partner of George Peabody and the founder of the house of J. S. Morgan & Co. ... Andrew Carnegie (properly pronounced , but commonly or )[1] (November 25, 1835 – August 11, 1919) was a Scottish industrialist, businessman, a major philanthropist, and the founder of the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Carnegie Mellon University, and Pittsburghs Carnegie Steel Company, which was later merged...

Morgan, perhaps the most flamboyant of the entrepreneurs, operated on a grand scale in both his private and business life. He and his companions gambled, sailed yachts, gave lavish parties, built palatial homes, and bought European art treasures. In contrast, men such as Rockefeller and Ford exhibited puritanical qualities. They retained small-town values and lifestyles. As church-goers, they felt a sense of responsibility to others. They believed that personal virtues could bring success; theirs was the gospel of work and thrift. Later their heirs would establish the largest philanthropic foundations in America.

While upper-class European intellectuals generally looked on commerce with disdain, most Americans -- living in a society with a more fluid class structure -- enthusiastically embraced the idea of moneymaking. They enjoyed the risk and excitement of business enterprise, as well as the higher living standards and potential rewards of power and acclaim that business success brought.

1900 panoramic image of the Chicago slaughter houses

Carnegie Steel Co. facility in Ohio c.1910

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (3264x420, 519 KB) Summary LOC info: TITLE: Panoramic picture illustrating the pork industry CALL NUMBER: PAN SUBJECT - Miscellaneous no. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (3264x420, 519 KB) Summary LOC info: TITLE: Panoramic picture illustrating the pork industry CALL NUMBER: PAN SUBJECT - Miscellaneous no. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2873x420, 381 KB) Summary LOC info: TITLE: Ohio Works of the Carnegie Steel Co. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (2873x420, 381 KB) Summary LOC info: TITLE: Ohio Works of the Carnegie Steel Co. ...

Progressive Era: 1890-1920

Eight-hour workday demonstration in New York (1871)

A political cartoon symbolically depicting President Wilson using tariff, currency, and anti-trust laws to prime the pump and get the economy working.

Main article: Progressive Era

In the early years of American history, most political leaders were reluctant to involve the federal government too heavily in the private sector, except in the area of transportation. In general, they accepted the concept of laissez-faire, a doctrine opposing government interference in the economy except to maintain law and order. This attitude started to change during the latter part of the 19th century, when small business, farm, and labor movements began asking the government to intercede on their behalf. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (380x640, 63 KB) Summary LOC info: ITLE: New York City - great eight-hour labor demonstration - the procession of workingmen as it appeared on passing the Cooper Institute CALL NUMBER: Illus. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (380x640, 63 KB) Summary LOC info: ITLE: New York City - great eight-hour labor demonstration - the procession of workingmen as it appeared on passing the Cooper Institute CALL NUMBER: Illus. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1031x1279, 288 KB) Summary 1913 US cartoon Licensing This image is in the public domain in the United States. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1031x1279, 288 KB) Summary 1913 US cartoon Licensing This image is in the public domain in the United States. ... In the United States, the Progressive Era was a period of reform which lasted from the 1890s to the 1920s. ... Laissez-faire is short for laissez faire, laissez passer, a French phrase meaning to let things alone, let them pass. First used by the eighteenth century Physiocrats as an injunction against government interference with trade, it is now used as a synonym for strict free market economics. ...

The American labor movement began with the first significant labor union, the Knights of Labor in 1867. The group helped begin the movement to end child labor, have an eight-hour workday, and use collective bargaining to help improve workers' lots. The Lawrence textile strike (1912), with soldiers surrounding peaceful demonstrators Labor unions in the United States function as legally recognized representatives of workers in numerous industries. ... A union (labor union in American English; trade union, sometimes trades union, in British English; either labour union or trade union in Canadian English) is a legal entity consisting of employees or workers having a common interest, such as all the assembly workers for one employer, or all the workers... Knights of Labor seal The Knights of Labor, also known as Noble and Holy Order of the Knights of Labor, was founded by seven Philadelp tailors in 1869, led by Uriah S. Stephens. ... A twelve year old American uneducated child laborer, Furman Owens, who stated Yes I want to learn but cant when I work all the time. ... Eight-hour day banner, Melbourne, 1856 The Eight-hour day movement, also known as the Short-time movement, had its origins in the Industrial Revolution in Britain, where industrial production in large factories transformed working life and imposed long hours and poor working conditions. ... A Collective agreement is a labor contract between an employer and one or more unions. ...

A popular movement formed in the agricultural sector at the same time. The Grange movement, also founded in 1867, was a group of farmers who banded together to fight railroad monopolies that hurt grain shipping and to protect other farming interests. Grange Hall in Maine, circa 1910 The Grange movement in the United States was a farmers movement involving the affiliation of local farmers into area granges to work for their political and economic advantages. ...

By the turn of the century, a middle class had developed that was leery of both the business elite and the somewhat radical political movements of farmers and laborers in the Midwest and West. Known as Progressives, these people favored government regulation of business practices to ensure competition and free enterprise. They also fought corruption in the public sector. Progressivism or political progressivism is any of several historically related political philosophies or political ideologies. ...

Congress enacted a law regulating railroads in 1887 (the Interstate Commerce Act), and one preventing large firms from controlling a single industry in 1890 (the Sherman Antitrust Act). These laws were not rigorously enforced, however, until the years between 1900 and 1920, when Republican President Theodore Roosevelt (1901-1909), Democratic President Woodrow Wilson (1913-1921), and others sympathetic to the views of the Progressives came to power. Many of today's U.S. regulatory agencies were created during these years, including the Interstate Commerce Commission and the Federal Trade Commission. The American Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 created the Interstate Commerce Commissirs of the commission were appointed by the President with the consent of the Senate. ... John Sherman The Sherman Antitrust Act (Sherman Act[1], July 2, 1890, ch. ... For other persons named Theodore Roosevelt, see Theodore Roosevelt (disambiguation). ... Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856—February 3, 1924), was the twenty-eighth President of the United States. ... The Interstate Commerce Commission (or ICC) was a regulatory body in the United States created by the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887, which was signed into law by President Grover Cleveland. ... | logo_caption = | seal = US-FederalTradeCommission-Seal. ...

Muckrakers also had a big impact on increasing regulation of American business. Upton Sinclair's The Jungle (1906) showed America what life was like in the Chicago Union Stock Yards, a giant complex of meat processing that developed in the 1870s. The federal government responded to Sinclair's book with the new regulatory Food and Drug Administration. Ida M. Tarbell wrote a series of articles against the Standard Oil monopoly. The series helped pave the way for the breakup of the monopoly. In American English, a muckraker is a journalist or an author who searches for and exposes scandals and abuses occurring in business and politics. ... Upton Sinclair Jr. ... For the episode of The Twilight Zone, see The Jungle (The Twilight Zone). ... For other uses, see Chicago (disambiguation). ... ÊÊÊÊThe Union Stock Yard & Transit Co. ... FDA redirects here. ... Ida M. Tarbell, 1904 Ida Minerva Tarbell (November 5, 1857–January 6, 1944) was a teacher, author and journalist. ... Standard Oil was a predominant integrated oil producing, transporting, refining, and marketing company. ...

When Democrat Woodrow Wilson was elected President with a Democratic Congress in 1912 he implemented a series of progressive policies. In 1913, the Sixteenth Amendment was ratified, and the income tax was instituted in the United States. While public spending as a percent of GDP had declined during the Taft Administration^{[citation needed]}, it began to rise under Wilson's leadership in a trend that would continue for many decades. Wilson created the Federal Reserve, a complex business-government partnership that created the first central bank since 1836. The departure of working men to serve in the armed forces was a significant blow to the workforce, and many women gained employment during the war. Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856—February 3, 1924), was the twenty-eighth President of the United States. ... Amendment XVI in the National Archives Amendment XVI (the Sixteenth Amendment) of the United States Constitution was ratified on February 3, 1913. ... Tax rates around the world Tax revenue as % of GDP Economic policy Monetary policy Central bank   Money supply Fiscal policy Spending   Deficit   Debt Trade policy Tariff   Trade agreement Finance Financial market Financial market participants Corporate   Personal Public   Banking   Regulation        An income tax is a tax levied on the financial income... For other persons named William Howard Taft, see William Howard Taft (disambiguation). ... The Federal Reserve System is headquartered in the Eccles Building on Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC. The Federal Reserve System (also the Federal Reserve; informally The Fed) is the central banking system of the United States. ...

Roaring Twenties: 1920-1929

People filing tax forms in 1920

Main article: Roaring Twenties

Under Republican President Warren G. Harding, who called for normalcy and an end to high wartime taxes, Secretary of the Treasury Andrew Mellon raised the tariff, cut other taxes, and used the large surplus to reduce the federal debt by about a third from 1920 to 1930. Secretary of Commerce Herbert Hoover worked to introduce efficiency, by regulating business practices. This period of prosperity, along with the culture of the time, was known as the Roaring Twenties. The rapid growth of the automobile industry stimulated industries such as oil, glass, and road-building. Tourism soared and consumers with cars had a much wider radius for their shopping. Small cities prospered, and large cities had their best decade ever, with a boom in construction of offices, factories and homes. The new electric power industry transformed both business and everyday life. Telephones and electricity spread to the countryside, but farmers never recovered from the wartime bubble in land prices. Millions migrated to nearby cities. However, in October 1929, the stock market crashed and banks began to fail in the Wall Street Crash of 1929. Image File history File links 1920_tax_forms_IRS.jpg Summary Large group of people filling out tax forms in Internal Revenue office. ... Image File history File links 1920_tax_forms_IRS.jpg Summary Large group of people filling out tax forms in Internal Revenue office. ... For the film, see The Roaring Twenties. ... Warren Gamaliel Harding (November 2, 1865 – August 2, 1923) was an American politician and the 29th President of the United States, from 1921 to 1923. ... Mellon portrait Andrew William Mellon (March 24, 1855–August 27, 1937) was an American banker, industrialist, philanthropist, and Secretary of the Treasury from March 4, 1921 until February 12, 1932. ... Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964), the thirty-first President of the United States (1929–1933), was a world-famous mining engineer and humanitarian administrator. ... For the film, see The Roaring Twenties. ... A stock market or (equity market) is a private or public market for the trading of company stock and derivatives of company stock at an agreed price; both of these are securities listed on a stock exchange as well as those only traded privately. ... A stock market crash is a sudden dramatic decline of stock prices across a significant cross-section of a stock market. ... Crowd gathering on Wall Street. ...

Great Depression: 1929-1941

Main article: Great Depression in the United States

Stock exchange trading floor after the 1929 crash

Missouri migrants living in a truck in California. Many displaced people moved to California to look for work during the Depression. John Steinbeck depicted the situation in The Grapes of Wrath

The Federal Reserve Board chose to stand by, leaving interest rates high and not shoring up banks, while Congress expanded government in an effort to alleviate the recession. There was a sharp drop in the money supply, which would amount to a one-third reduction by 1933. President Herbert Hoover passed a massive tax increase to boost sagging federal revenues, and signed the protectionist Smoot-Hawley Tariff, which incited retaliation by Canada, Britain, Germany and other trading partners. The U.S. economy plunged into depression. By 1932, the unemployment rate was 23.6%. Conditions were worse in heavy industry, lumbering, export agriculture (cotton, wheat, tobacco), and mining. Conditions were not quite as bad in white collar sectors and in light manufacturing. The Great Depression was a decade of unemployment, low profits, low prices, high poverty and stagnant trade that affected the entire world in the 1930s. ... Image File history File links 1930-67B.gif Summary 1930-67B: The trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange just after the crash of 1929. ... Image File history File links 1930-67B.gif Summary 1930-67B: The trading floor of the New York Stock Exchange just after the crash of 1929. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (640x608, 66 KB) Summary http://memory. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (640x608, 66 KB) Summary http://memory. ... For other members of the family, see Steinbeck (disambiguation). ... This article is about the novel. ... The Federal Reserve System is headquartered in the Eccles Building on Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC. The Federal Reserve System (also the Federal Reserve; informally The Fed) is the central bank of the United States. ... Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964), the thirty-first President of the United States (1929–1933), was a world-famous mining engineer and humanitarian administrator. ... The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act raised US tariffs on over 20,000 dutiable items to record levels, and, in the opinion of many economists, protracted the Great Depression. ... For other uses, see The Great Depression (disambiguation). ...

Franklin Delano Roosevelt was elected President in 1932 without a specific program. He relied on a highly eclectic group of advisors who patched together many programs, known as the New Deal. Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882–April 12, 1945), 32nd President of the United States, the longest-serving holder of the office and the only man to be elected President more than twice, was one of the central figures of 20th century history. ... This article is about the policy program of US President Franklin D Roosevelt. ...

Government spending increased from 8.0% of GNP under Hoover in 1932 to 10.2% of GNP in 1936. While Roosevelt balanced the "regular" budget the emergency budget was funded by debt, which increased from 33.6% of GNP in 1932 to 40.9% in 1936.^[2] Deficit spending had been recommended by some economists, most notably John Maynard Keynes in Britain. Roosevelt met Keynes but did not pay attention to his recommendations. After a meeting with Keynes, who kept drawing diagrams, Roosevelt remarked that "He must be a mathematician rather than a political economist." Keynes redirects here. ...

The extent to which the spending for relief and public works provided a sufficient stimulus to revive the U.S. economy, or whether it harmed the economy, is also debated. If one defines economic health entirely by the gross domestic product, the U.S. had gotten back on track by 1934, and made a full recovery by 1936, but as Roosevelt said, one third of the nation was ill fed, ill-housed and ill-clothed. See Chart 3. GNP was 34% higher in 1936 than 1932, and 58% higher in 1940 on the eve of war. The economy grew 58% from 1932 to 1940 in 8 years of peacetime, and then grew 56% from 1940 to 1945 in 5 years of wartime. However, the unemployment rate never went below 9% before the draft. During the war the economy operated under so many different conditions that comparison is impossible with peacetime, such as massive spending, price controls, bond campaigns, controls over raw materials, prohibitions on new housing and new automobiles, rationing, guaranteed cost-plus profits, subsidized wages, and the draft of 12 million soldiers.

Chart 3: GDP annual pattern and long-term trend, 1920-40, in billions of constant dollars^[3]

As Broadus Mitchell summarized, "Most indexes worsened until the summer of 1932, which may be called the low point of the depression economically and psychologically."^[4] Economic indicators show the American economy reached nadir in summer 1932 to February 1933, then began a steady, sharp upward recovery that persisted until 1937. Thus the Federal Reserve Index of Industrial Production hit its low of 52.8 on July 1, 1932 and was practically unchanged at 54.3 on March 1, 1933; however by July 1, 1933, it reached 85.5 (with 1935-39 = 100, and for comparison 2005 = 1,342).^[5] Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...

¹ in 1929 dollars
² 1935-39 = 100

Wartime Controls: 1941-1945

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Women making aluminum shells for the war in 1942

The War Production Board coordinated the nation's productive capabilities so that military priorities would be met. Converted consumer-products plants filled many military orders. Automakers built tanks and aircraft, for example, making the United States the "arsenal of democracy." In an effort to prevent rising national income and scarce consumer products to cause inflation, the newly created Office of Price Administration controlled rents on some dwellings, rationed consumer items ranging from sugar to gasoline, and otherwise tried to restrain price increases. Image File history File links Women_aluminum_shells_wwii. ... Image File history File links Women_aluminum_shells_wwii. ... The War Production Board (WPB) was established in 1942 by executive order of Franklin D. Roosevelt. ... The US M1A1 Abrams tank is a typical modern main battle tank. ... Bold textThe Office of Price Administration (OPA) was established within the Office for Emergency Management by the United States Government by Executive Order 8875 on August 28, 1941. ...

By the early 1940s, the United States had managed to pull itself strongly out of the Depression, largely due to World War II, but there is an ongoing, politically charged debate on whether Franklin Roosevelt's social-democratic policies had anything to do with this, and some argue that Roosevelt's policies hampered recovery, or even made the problem worse than it would have been. Recovery was also, in part, at least, due to the natural resilience of the economy; the Great Depression was the sixth depression in U.S. history. Wall Street enjoyed the longest bull run in history in this post-war period, as the stock market climbed almost uninterrupted from 1949 to 1957. The U.S. government involvement in social welfare and what Dwight Eisenhower called the "military-industrial complex" continues to this day. The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949. ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... Dwight David Ike Eisenhower (October 14, 1890–March 28, 1969), American soldier and politician, was the 34th President of the United States (1953–1961) and supreme commander of the Allied forces in Europe during World War II, with the rank of General of the Army. ... President Dwight Eisenhower famously referred to the military-industrial complex in his farewell address. ...

Six million women took jobs in manufacturing and production; most were newly created temporary jobs in munitions. Some were replacing men away in the mil