America's Industrial Society in the 19th Century Ser.America's Big Businesses in the Late 1800s

The expansion of steel, oil, and the railroad industries during and after the Civil War helped America to grow and change. Millions of people were immigrating to the United States from Europe and Asia, altering the size and face of our population. Looking for work and for a better life, they found a country in the midst of an economic revolution. Owners of these new, big businesses became a new wealthy class; their workers, many of whom were the same immigrants who came looking for a better life, became the new working poor.