In the second half of the 19th century, the American capitalist economy developed rapidly. The main reasons are: the victory of the North in the American Civil War cleared the way for the development of domestic capitalism; the implementation of the "Homestead Act" enabled the development of the western region and expanded the domestic market; the import of large amounts of capital from Europe paved the way for the development of industry and agriculture. Development provides funds; the United States is a late-comer capitalist country, which facilitates the application of European advanced science and technology and production experience; a large number of foreign immigrants and the liberation of black slaves provide cheap labor; the United States is rich in natural resources, rich in coal and iron , oil and other important materials. In addition, the United States during this period attached great importance to education and technology, vigorously developed education and rewarded scientific inventions. Since 1869, the United States began to implement a degree system and cultivated a large number of outstanding science and engineering talents. In the following decades, various important inventions continued to appear. By 1890, the U.S. government had issued more than 400,000 patent certificates. These favorable conditions have put the U.S. economy in a leading position in the short term.
In 1860, the U.S. industry ranked fourth in the world. By 1892, it jumped to the first place. Its industrial output accounted for about 1/2 of the total production of European countries. From 1860 to 1900, U.S. industrial production increased by 6 times. Among them, the growth of coal, iron, steel and oil production is particularly prominent. In 1870, the output of coal was 33.1 million tons, which increased to 269.7 million tons in 1900; the output of steel was 1.2 million tons in 1880, and it was 10.2 million tons in 1900; the oil extraction volume was 200 million gallons in 1870, and increased in 1900. to 2.7 billion gallons. In 1913, American industrial products accounted for more than one-third of the world's total industrial products, exceeding the combined output of Britain, France, Germany, and Japan. The development of the western region accelerated the development of American agriculture. From 1880 to 1900, the land area cultivated in the United States exceeded the land area of ??Britain, Germany, and France combined. Coupled with the adoption of advanced agricultural technology, the United States' grain and cotton production increased by two-thirds.
As the U.S. economy grows, the concentration of production and capital also develops. In particular, the three economic crises in the last 30 years of the 19th century accelerated the process of concentration. Trusts are a common form of monopoly organization in the United States. The first trust in the United States was the "Mobil Oil Company". This company was established in 1870. It formed a trust in 1882 and controlled 9/10 of oil production. Subsequently, trusts appeared one after another in other industrial sectors. By 1904, 445 trusts had been formed in industry, transportation, and public services. By the beginning of the 20th century, Rockefeller, Morgan, Mellon, DuPont, and Kuhn had formed —The eight major consortiums of Robby, Chicago, Cleveland, and Boston. The big trusts control 95% of oil, 66% of steel, 77% of the metal industry, 81% of the chemical industry, and 80% of the automobile manufacturing, sugar and tobacco industries. Trusts control the economic lifeline of the United States.
The combination of highly concentrated industrial capital and bank capital in the United States has formed a huge fiscal oligarchy. At the beginning of the 20th century, eight major financial oligarchies were formed in the United States. Among them, the Morgan and Rockefeller consortia were dominant. Through Citibank and First National Bank, they controlled 112 banks, transportation, insurance and commercial companies, and occupied 1/3 of all national wealth. According to statistics in 1913, monopoly capitalists, who accounted for 2% of the country's population, owned 60% of the country's wealth. The working people, who account for 65%, only account for 5% of the national wealth.
A small group of financial oligarchs dominate the U.S. economy through trusts, control U.S. politics, and infiltrate culture, education, and social life, so Lenin called the United States a typical trust-imperialist country.