After the civil war there was a huge surge to rebuild the infrastructure of the U.S. many Americans wanted to move west to escape the horrors of the civil war, which started the race to the west coast (intercontinental railroad)
It ended the labor shortage, as war veterans went to work on the railroad.
Explanation:
The Civil War caused an enormous labor shortage because when it started men that used to work, began to enlist. A report from the Secretary of War in 1862 said that there were 718,512 volunteers in the Union Army. This caused labor shortage, because men that could be working, were fighting.
When the War was over, despite the casualties, men were able to go back to work and projects were developed such as the railroad construction.
