In 1840, the United States ranked fifth in output among the world's manufacturing countries. By 1860 it was fourth. By 1894, it had taken the first place. By that time America already produced twice as much as Britain, the previous leader in manufacturing. By the turn of the century, the United States was already exporting manufactured goods to the world.
The extraordinary success of American agriculture, was the dynamics of industrialization. Already in 1860 production of flour and meal was the biggest single industry in the United States. This was then displaced by slaughtering and meat-packing, which remained the biggest single industry until 1914. America's ascent to world leadership in manufacturing was driven by its agriculture. America produced and distributed, or tapped, energy more cheaply than any other country in the world. These resources were reinforced by a unique combination of protection and laissez-faire in federal and state policy. The freedom of interstate commerce, guaranteed by the US Constitution, made America by the 1860s the largest free-trading area in the world.
The transformation of the United States, within five decades, from a primary producer into the world's first industrial superstate was symbolized by the construction of a colossal continental railroad system. This, indeed, was a function of the role of agriculture products in industrialization and a driving force behind the emergence of a vast coal-steel complex and sophisticated financial markets in New York, and Chicago. US railroads began out east in 1825 and followed the frontier, enabling the mass settlement to follow.
By 1840, America had nearly 3,000 miles of track, whereas the whole of Europe had only 1,800 miles. Mark Twain describes a giant tow from Cincinnati to New Orleans of 600,000 bushels (76 pounds to the bushel) of coal, exclusive of the ship's own fuel, 'being the largest tow ever taken to New Orleans or anywhere else in the world, the equivalent of 1,800 freight rail-cars.'
A network of 254,000 miles by 1916, about one-third of the total world mileage.
