It affected women in the U.S because of how they were only there at home when usually their husbands were out fighting for the war. This provided more job opportunities for women and caused them to be the "head of the house".
A nations power based on wealth is called is usually referred to as GDP, or "Gross Domestic Product" (if I'm understanding the question correctly. Although this isn't always a great indicator of the fundamental "health" of the country.<span />
Charles Dickens wrote novels about urban poor in the 1800s
Hope this helps!
