The start of the American Industrial Revolution is often attributed to Samuel Slater who opened the first industrial mill in the United States in 1790. However, after the Civil War, American industry changed dramatically with the increased use of machines to replace manual labor in manufacturing. Historians have labeled the years from 1870-1914 as the Second Industrial Revolution.
Click on maps to link to source and zoom in on details.
Maps Showing the Progressive Development of U.S. Railroads - 1830 to 1890
1830, 1840, 1850
During the decade 1830-1840 the total length of completed railroad lines increased from 23 to 2808 miles. During the next decade over 6200 miles were added bringing the total to 9021 miles in 1950
U.S. Railroad Map 1860
U.S. Railroad Map 1870U.S. Railroad Map 1870
U.S. Railroad Map 1870U.S. Railroad Map 1880
Source:Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum
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New map of the Union Pacific Railway, the Short, Quick and Safe Line to All Points West, 1883
Source: Rand McNally, available from Library of Congress Geography and Map Division
An animation of American population change from 1790 to 1860
Click on any of the maps below to link to animation.
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1790 - 3.9 million
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1800 - 5.3 million
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1810 - 7.2 million
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1820 - 9.6 million
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1830 - 12.9 million
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1840 - 17 million
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1850 - 23.2 million
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1860 - 31.4 million
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Source: Source: Based on Henry Gannett maps contained in the US Census Department's Statistical Atlas for 1900. Animation available from Wilimedia Commons. Maps also available from David Ramsey Map Collection, (Stanford University Library).
A Concise View of the Number, Resources, and Industry of the American People, 1843
Source: Samuel Augustus Mitchell at David Ramsey Map Collection
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Value of Manufacturing, 1860
Source: Albert Bushnell Hart, LL.D., The American Nation Vol. 19 (New York, NY: Harper and Brothers, 1907) 8
Map Credit: Courtesy the private collection of Roy Winkelman. Available from Maps ETC
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The United States - Industrial Sections, 1897
Source: Jacques W. Redway & Russell Hinman, Natural Introductory Geography (New York, NY: American Book Company, 1897) 41
Map Credit: Courtesy the private collection of Roy Winkelman. Available from Maps ETC
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Manufacturing Areas, 1900
A map from 1907 of the United States showing the principal manufacturing areas in 1900. The star symbol in Ohio represents the mean center of manufacturing in the nation. Each symbol represents gross $25,000,000 or fraction more than $10,000,000. The figures in the boxes represent total manufactures for each State in millions of dollars. The symbols represent manufacture of food products, textiles, iron and steel products, lumber, paper and printing, liquors and beverages, chemicals, glass, clay, and stone, metals and products other than iron, tobacco, land vehicles, and ship building.
Source: Albert Bushnell Hart, LL.D., The American Nation Vol. 26 (New York, NY: Harper and Brothers, 1907) 240
Map Credit: Courtesy the private collection of Roy Winkelman. Available from Maps ETC
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Political Divisions 1870
Source: Statistical Atlas of the United States, (based on results from Ninth Census 1870. Available from U.S. Census Bureau.
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Popular Vote, 1880
Scribner's statistical atlas of the United States, showing by graphic methods their present condition and their political, social and industrial development
Source: Scribner's Satistical Atlas of the United States.(Available from Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division.
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River Systems of the United States
Source: Statistical Atlas of the United States, 1874 (based on results from Ninth Census 1870. Available from U.S. Census Bureau.
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Woodlands
Source: Statistical Atlas of the United States, 1874 (based on results from Ninth Census 1870. Available from U.S. Census Bureau
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________.Coal Measures
Source: Statistical Atlas of the United States, 1874 (based on results from Ninth Census 1870. Available from U.S. Census Bureau.
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Geological Formations,, 1824
Source: Statistical Atlas of the United States, 1874 (based on results from Ninth Census 1870. Available from U.S. Census Bureau.
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Mitchell's National Map of the American Republic, 1843
Samuel Augustus Mitchell
Source: Samuel Augustus Mitchell. Available from David Rumsey Historical Map Collection
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________The United States in 1870
Source: Source: Albert Bushnell Hart, L.L.D., The American Nation Vol. 22 (New York, NY: Harper and Brothers, 1907) 4
Map Credit: Courtesy The Private Collection of Roy Winkleman. Available from Maps ETC
