Books in America's Industrial Society in the Nineteenth Century series

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 the population. Looking for work and for a better life, they found a country in the midst of an economic revolution. Owners of 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.

As big business trusts proliferated in the last 1800s, a number of state governments, especially those in the South and West, passed laws to regulate corporate behavior. Large corporations got around the regulations by establishing their businesses in states that did not have these laws. In an effort to put a stop to corporations circumventing the states' laws, the federal government passed the Sherman Antitrust Act, which was the first federal antitrust law, and called for federal action against any restraint of trade.

William Boss Tweed was a powerful, corrupt Democrat during the second half of the 19th century. Through bribes and payoffs, he controlled the government and stole millions of dollars from New York City. Though there is little question that he and his Tammany Hall cohorts were far from honest, Tammany Hall controlled the city's government for years. But Boss Tweed also helped millions of immigrants as they worked to adjust to their new home and become American citizens. He gave them city jobs and provided food and fuel to help them survive.