The industrial revolution involved the invention of both new machines and systems for producing goods and services. This was done on a massive scale in the United States after the Civil War. Manufacturing and Cities took the place of home goods and farm life.
The United States was and still is richly endowed with raw materials and natural resources. The Constitution gave Congress the right to issue patents to inventors. This gave the inventor ownership rights to the invention, State laws allowed for the formation of corporations. A corporation raises money by selling shares (partial ownership) to investors. They use the money they raise to create and grow the company. Buying stocks limited the personal liability of investors to just what they had paid for the stock shares. |
1. Cornelius Vanderbilt Vanderbilt
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#2 Growth of Rail# 3 Advances in Steel Manufacturing
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#4 Oil |