Their weapons were much more advanced ex. guns, rather than the natives had bows and arrows.
They faced challenges such as how to accommodate states that had basically ruled. How to create a strong central government without giving too much power to one group & how to give small & large states equal representation.
Products were made, as was the case with factories from all time periods.
It would be the fact that our manufacturing facilities have started to use automated systems rather than workers. Robots are quicker and more efficient, they don't need breaks and they can work the same shift and if you compare the energy bill to the payroll bill it is a better investment. We studied this in business class.