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Transcontinental Railroad
The Transcontinental Railroad was the first railroad built in American history. The railroad was meant for easy transportation across country. The railroad had major economic benefit because it allowed for easy transportation of goods. This was beneficial for the US because it allowed for more goods to be sold and for more goods to be bought.
Eric Foner, Voices of Freedom (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005), 52 -
Abolition of Slavery
The abolition of slavery after the civil war played a key point in the United State's economy. A majority of the southern states used slavery as their main way of employment. Most people in the South preferred slavery because it was free labor. When slavery was abolished this caused panic in the South because they went from having free labor to actually having to pay for labor.
Eric Foner, Voices of Freedom (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005), 11 -
Sharecropping
During the period of Reconstruction, the southern states implemented a new method of employment known as sharecropping. Sharecropping was the employment of black and poor white Americans on farms with low wages. This method of employment would go on to be considered slavery with a small wage. Most sharecroppers ended up in debt with the farmer and would have to sharecrop the rest of their lives.
Eric Foner, Voices of Freedom (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005), 11 -
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Reconstruction
The Period after the Civil War. During the period of reconstruction lots of economic opportunities took place. Lots of debate in the North was done about how they were going to let the Southern state rejoin. The Southern states had to figure out ways to rebuild their land, most of the Civil War took place in the South so a lot of the Southern states had lots of destruction.
Eric Foner, Voices of Freedom (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005), 1-24 -
US Steel
J.P. Morgan buys out Carnegie Steel Company from Andrew Carnegie. Morgan changes the name to US Steel. This meant that Morgan had no real competitors in the steel market. This basically created a monopoly in the steel market. J.P. Morgan was able to find a way to cut costs, lower the consumer price, produce higher wages, and produce a higher amount of quantity.
Eric Foner, Voices of Freedom (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005), 32 -
Assembly Line Manufacturing
Not only did Henry Ford develop an automobile, he came up with a way of manufacturing the automobile more efficiently. This also made automobiles more affordable. Henry Ford used the new method of assembly line manufacturing in order to produce and decrease the cost of making the automobile. This allowed for more job positions to be filled and allowed for an increase in consumerism.
Eric Foner, Voices of Freedom (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005), 100 -
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The Great Depression
The Great Depression was one of America's lowest points economically. The great depression was caused by multiple things such as farmers producing too many crops at once, banks lending out money to anyone, stock prices being inflated, and other reasons. This resulted in America being in a bad economic state they wouldn't be able to get out of until World War II.
Eric Foner, Voices of Freedom (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005), 136-160 -
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World War II
World War II was a traumatic war. However there was an economic benefit to the war. Due to the war, The United States began manufacturing weapons for the war such as new machine guns and tanks. This opened up the opportunity for more jobs. This would help bring the end to the Great Depression.
Eric Foner, Voices of Freedom (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005), 192-210 -
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Baby Boomers
The Baby Boom was a result of World War II. Before most the men went to war they spent "quality" time with their wives. This resulted in a major increase in the population. This benefitted the economy because it resulted in an increase of consumerism.
Eric Foner, Voices of Freedom (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005), 196 -
Capitalism and Freedom
During this time, two groups of conservatives formed. "New conservatives" wanted traditional Christian values put in place. The new Libertarians thought freedom meant individual autonomy, limited government, and unregulated capitalism. Free market was deemed necessary for individual liberty and that government should have minimal role in economics. This new thought process plays a major role in economics to this day.
Eric Foner, Voices of Freedom (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005), 259 -
NAFTA
NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement) is an agreement between all 3 countries of North America (United States, Mexico, and Canada) that allows free trade between all of them. This has been an economic benefit because it brought down tariff walls between the countries and allowed an export boom to Mexico. It also helped create jobs.
Eric Foner, Voices of Freedom (New York: W.W. Norton & Company, 2005), 334 -
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Housing Bubble
During this period America was in another economic crisis. Banks began loaning money to anyone for house mortgages. No credit checks were done so a lot of these mortgage loans were given to people who weren't going to pay them back or were simply unable to pay them back. This caused a real estate crash that made the loaners without a house and lenders with a house that no one would buy. The result of this was a major economic crisis.
