From 1860 to 1900, the U.S. witnessed a period of prosperity. This was mainly due to rapid growth and expansion of transportation. Besides this period also saw great changes in the socio-economic and cultural sphere of America. War needs had enormously stimulated manufacturing and had speeded an economic process based on the exploitation of iron, steam, and electric power, and the forward march of science and invention. In the years after 1860, 440,000 patents were issued. (Greenwood, 1981)
In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell exhibited a telephone instrument and, within half a century, 16 million telephones would quicken the social and economic life of the nation. The growth of business was speeded by the invention of the typewriter in 1867, the adding machine in 1888, and the cash register in 1897. The linotype composing machine, invented in 1886, the rotary press and paper-folding machinery made it possible to print 240,000 eight-page newspapers in an hour. Edison's incandescent lamp lit millions of homes. The talking machine, too, was perfected by Edison, who, in conjunction with George Eastman, also helped develop the motion picture. These and many other applications of science and ingenuity resulted in a new level of productivity in almost every field.
Concurrently, the nation's basic industry-iron and steel-was forging ahead, protected by a high tariff. Previously concentrated near deposits in the eastern states, the iron industry moved westward as geologists discovered new ore deposits. Especially notable was the great Mesabi iron range at the head of Lake Superior, which became one of the largest ore producers in the world. The ore lay on the surface of the ground and was easy and cheap to mine. Remarkably free of chemical impurities, it could be processed into steel of superior quality at about one-tenth the previously prevailing cost. (Greenwood, 1981)...........
