Editing Economy of the United States (section)

===19th century===
{{Further|Industrial Revolution in the United States}}
{{See also|List of tariffs in the United States|Protectionism in the United States|Tariff in United States history|American System (economic plan)}}
[[File:LOSSING(1876) p293 WASHBURN'S & MOEN MANUFACTURING CO., WORCESTER, MA.jpg|thumb|[[Washburn and Moen North Works District|Washburn and Moen Manufacturing Company]] in [[Worcester, Massachusetts]], 1876]]
In 180 years, the United States grew to become a huge, integrated, and industrialized economy, which made up about a fifth of the [[world economy]]. In that process, the U.S. GDP per capita rose past that of many other countries, supplanting the [[British Empire]] at the top. The economy maintained high wages, attracting immigrants by the millions from all over the world.<ref>{{Cite web |title=19th century: Immigration Galore – Peopling of NYC: The Immigrant Experience |url=https://peopleofnyc.commons.gc.cuny.edu/19th-century-immigration-galore/ |access-date=May 20, 2022 |language=en-CAC}}</ref> In the 1820s and 1830s, mass production shifted much of the economy from artisans to factories. New government regulations strengthened patents.

Early in the 19th century, more than 80 percent of Americans engaged in farming. Most of the manufacturing centered on the first stages of the transformation of raw materials, with lumber and sawmills, textiles, and boots and shoes leading the way. The rich natural resources contributed to the rapid economic expansion of the nineteenth century. Ample land allowed the number of farmers to keep growing; but activity in manufacturing, services, transportation, and other sectors grew much faster, so that by 1860 the population was only about 50 percent rural, down from over 80 percent.<ref>{{cite book |author1=Baten, Jörg |title=A History of the Global Economy. From 1500 to the Present |date=2016 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |page=88ff |isbn=978-1107507180 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xYEGswEACAAJ}}</ref>

In the 19th century, [[List of recessions in the United States|recessions]] frequently coincided with [[financial crises]]. The Panic of 1837 was followed by a five-year depression, marked by bank failures and unprecedented unemployment.<ref>{{cite book |author1=W. J. Rorabaugh |author2=Donald T. Critchlow |author3=Paula C. Baker |title=America's Promise: A Concise History of the United States |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VL_6X5zWOokC&pg=PA210 |year=2004 |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |isbn=978-0742511897 |page=210 }}{{Dead link|date=September 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Because of the great changes in the economy over the centuries, it is difficult to compare the severity of modern recessions to that of early recessions.<ref>{{cite book |year=1986 |title=Appendix A The Development and Role of the National Bureau of Economic Research's Business Cycle Chronologies |last1=Moore |first1=Geoffrey H. |last2=Zarnowitz |url=https://www.nber.org/chapters/c10035 |first2=Victor |pages=735–780 |publisher=University of Chicago Press }} in {{Harvnb|Gordon|1986|pp=743–45}}</ref> Recessions after World War II appear to have been less severe than earlier recessions, but the reasons for this are unclear.<ref>{{cite book |title=Recessions and Depressions: Understanding Business Cycles |last=Knoop |first=Todd A. |publisher=Praeger Publishers |date=July 30, 2004 |isbn=978-0275981624 |pages=166–71 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ak_PQO2NprUC}}</ref>