During the latter half of the nineteenth century, the American Industrial Revolution sprung up. The steel industry began America’s climb to a global leader in industry. More people were drawn to the booming economy rather than to politics. The American industrial revolution was in full gear, and most men had a hunger for wealth rather than for Congress or presidency. During this time, the railroad became a massive industry, not just for transportation, but also for production building of the railroads. Industrial workers were a major working force, however, with this boom, a few people came to hold a majority of the wealth while the masses lived in poverty. During this time, laws were severely needed to control the corrupt corporations that ignored the masses. The railroads spanned the whole continent, which lead the opening of settling west. When Lincoln was assassinated in 1865, only 35,000 miles of steam railways were contracted, but by 1900, there were 192,556 miles of railway. This was more than that of all of Europe combined (Chapter 24). This was all due to machinery that could replace the jobs of men and speed up the process. According to the testimony of a machinist, “In that way machinery is produced a great deal chapter than it used to be formerly and in fact, through this system of work, …show more content…
Through the lost of over 450 million dollars through strikes, workers were finally being heard. It was only last few years of the nineteenth century that things began to change in industry. During the 1900s, attitudes towards labor began to change and the people started to accept the right of workers to organize and strike. During this time of change, Congress also introduced Labor Day. Since people were still not 100% equal, the vast majority of workers still held strikes and although it would still take some time for equality to be achieved, it would