America’s Industrial Revolution in the post-Civil War period.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AMERICAN ECONOMY
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The United States economy underwent rapid transformation, characterized by expansion of large scale agriculture, development of big businesses, industrial actions and consequently, the emergence of labor unions. During this period, old industries were transformed while new ones emerged to complement them.
Industries that were mostly affected included railroad, petroleum refining, electrical power and manufacture of steel. These industries could mass produce, patent their technology and innovate. The spread of railroad opened up remote towns and helped transport raw materials like steel, oil, timber and iron. They also helped in the movement of people to urban areas and expansion of big businesses to other parts of the country CITATION And14 \l 1033 (Andrew Carnegie, 2014).
The success and domination of these industries is attributed to factors like huge labor force, spread of railroads, technological innovation, ready markets and raw materials. They could source for cheap labor both from immigrants and from migrants. The immigrants were from Mexico, Central America, Europe and Asia while migrants were from rural farms that had been replaced by new farming technology like plows and threshers. They were subjected to low wages and harsh working conditions CITATION Rob17 \l 1033 (Robert J Gordon, 2017). The economic boom enticed big corporations to focus on product value addition in order to maximize profits by preferring power machinery to manual labor. These formed the basis for the formation of the first labor unions.
The origins of labor unions can be traced to the mid 19th century as groups attempted to organize so as to collectively bargain for workers rights. Their rise was in response to challenges brought by the indu...