The most important change in the US economy after the Civil War was the transformation from an agricultural society into an industrial society. Factors to be taken into account are: a large pool of labor thanks to constant immigration from abroad; access to massive amounts of raw materials such as timber, iron ore, oil; new inventions and technological advances; and the transcontinental rairoad that connected the East and the West coasts, facilitated the movement of items and people throughout the American terrritory. Growing urbanization and better living standards in cities are a result of industrialization.
