The steel industry is just one example of the growth of United States' industry after the Civil War. The population grew rapidly after the war, providing both a market and labor for new industrial developments.
Inventions come rapidly and transformed American life.
Thomas Edison's organized work of invention centered around the use of electricity. Electricity produced both the first light bulb and the phonograph. Singer's sewing machine and Bell's telephone had an equal impact on American lifestyles. The sewing machine speeded clothing manufacture and the telephone created a new lifestyle. By the end of the century people were working on ideas for the automobile, the airplane, and other inventions that drastically affected our life in the 20 th century.