2.Becoming a Great Industrial Power

The period from the Civil War to the beginning of the 20th century was a period of rapid industrial growth and urban development.The vast industrial development began with the opening the West.Before the Civil War，most of the vast region in the West was peopled only by Indians.When gold was discovered in California in 1848，agreat number of people began to move there.After the Civil War，people began moving onto the Great Plains to stay.The real encouragement to western settlement，however，was the Homestead Act passed by Congress in 1862.

Speeding this process of western settlement were the railroads.In 1869，the first transcontinental railroad had been completed.Between 1860and 1890 the railway mileage increased from 30，000miles to 166，000miles，which made the US have more mileage of railway track than all of Europe and Russia combined.Science and technology were also greatly marching forward.Between 1860and 1890Americans received nearly a half million patents，and some of the inventions created new industries.In 1876，Alexander Graham Bell exhibited his telephone which led to the development of nationwide communications.In 1882，Thomas A.Edison’s electric power plant started operation in New York City.Guglielmo Marconi’s experiment with the wireless and Edison’s inventions of the stock ticker，phonograph，and incandescent lamp further changed the lifestyle of the American people and brought certain essential benefits to American industries.

At the same time the basic industry of the nation，iron and steel，also developed rapidly after the Civil War.The iron industry，previously centered near deposits in the eastern states，moved westward as new ore deposits were discovered.Especially important was the great Mesabi iron range at the head of the Lake Superior which，in a short time，proved to be one of the greatest ore producers in the world.

Also the oil industry developed rapidly：In 1859，the first oil well was drilled in western Pennsylvania，and its success immediately set off an oil boom.Year after year production increased，and in the 1870spetroleum and petroleum products took the fourth place among the nation’s exports.Without petroleum，the new age of machinery could never have progressed as it did.

During the later part of the 19th century，industrial expansion in America went ahead rapidly.In 1860the US was ranked fourth in the industrial nations of the world；by 1894it was the first.Between 1860and 1900the number of industrial establishments increased three times.By 1890the value of manufactured goods equaled that of agricultural products，and by 1900it was worth twice as much.In 1860manufacturing was still largely concentrated on the eastern seaboard，but by 1900it had spread to the Great Lakes and also to many portions of the South and West.

At the same time，there was a clear indication of the rapid concentration of capital.The small and medium enterprises were swallowed up by the bigger ones.Big monopolies first appeared in the heavy industries.Industrial barons，such as the Vanderbilts，Rockefellers，Morgans and Fords，controlled 80to 95percent of national railways and the production of oil，steel and automobiles.The light industries went through a similar process of concentration.The development of big capitalist farms also placed the monopolists in control of farm production and prices.All these show that US capitalism had grown into full-fledged imperialism.

The growth of monopoly capital in the US was accompanied by a rising working-class movement.The first labor organization came into being in the 1870s.The Pennsylvania railway workers’strike of 1877was the first large-scale workers’struggle in the US history.On May 1，1886anational strike occurred in support of the eight-hour workday.In Chicago，four strikers died at the hands of police.On the night of the 4th，workers gathered at Haymarket Square of Chicago to mourn for the dead.Unfortunately eight leaders of the workers’organization were arrested by the police.News spread out.Workers of whole country and of some other countries expressed their support.Paying tribute to American martyrs，the Second International meeting was held at Paris in 1889.The meeting adopted a resolution designating May 1as International Labor Day to be observed by the workers of all countries.The US working class movement had a new upsurge at the turn of the century.On March 8，1909，women workers in Chicago launched a big struggle for freedom and equal rights with men.Their efforts won the recognition of the Second International Congress of women socialists which decided in 1910that March 8each year was to be observed as International Working Women’s Day.