U.S. Economic History and other Topics
A Quick Lesson on US Economic History
Prior to 1870’s, the US was largely an agrarian society with two-thirds of families living on farms and two-thirds or workers in agriculture. From the 1880’s to 1920 we were an emerging, industrializing nation with growth in manufacturing, mining, and other industrial sectors. We benefited from the Spanish-American War and World War I to slowly become a member of the developed nation club. Manufacturing was a greater and greater part of the economy. Once we got into World War II, the US became the number one economy since all of our potential competitors were essentially bombed back into the Bronze Age. There is a reason that most economists only refer to things ‘since World War II’ because our world changed pretty dramatically after that war. The US was the only extant industrial power for about five years after the war. We have never completely surrendered the title of world’s largest economy, though we may forfeit it here someday. Even in our current state of consumerism, we are still the world’s number one manufacturer of a surprisingly long list of goods. Read more