This chapter examines the maturing of the American industrial economy, a phenomenon that affected all facets of American life, from the rhythms of daily life and work to the allocation of wealth. Focusing on the years between 1865 and 1900, it describes the rise of heavy industry, the organization and character of the new industrial workplace, and the emergence of big business. It then examines the locus of industrial life, the fast-growing city; its peoples, whom heavy immigration had made ever more diverse; its social classes; and its communities. The chapter's central theme grows out of O'Donnell's story: As the United States built up its railroads, cities, and factories, its production and profit orientation resulted in unequal distribution of wealth and power. Although many Americans were too exhausted by life's daily struggles to protest new inequalities, strikes and other forms of working-class resistance sought to return dignity and power to working people and to compensate them more generously for the labor they performed. The ineffectiveness of these protests points to the many obstacles confronting those who wished to change the status quo.
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