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The railroads were temporarily nationalized between 1917 and 1920 by the United States Railroad Administration, because of American entry into World War I. Railroad mileage peaked at this time. Railroads were affected deeply by the Great Depression in the United States, and some lines were abandoned.
This worsening situation for railroad workers led to strikes against many railroads, culminating in the Great Railroad Strike of 1877, involving over 100,000 people in multiple cities. [ 58 ] The Great Strike began on July 14 in Martinsburg, West Virginia , in response to the cutting of wages for the second time in a year by the B&O Railroad.
Annual GDP Growth [3] Description Oct 1945– Nov 1948 37 +5.2% +1.5%: As the United States demobilized from World War II, the decline in government spending caused a brief recession in 1945 and suppressed GDP growth for several years thereafter. However, private economic activity expanded at a brisk pace throughout this period.
In 1970, the United States government spent just over $80 billion on national defense. Over the next two decades, national defense spending increased steadily to around $300 billion per year. [ 11 ] Military spending fell in the 1990s, but increased markedly in the 2000s as a result of the War in Afghanistan and Iraq .
The 1860s were a period of growing protectionism in the United States, while the European free trade phase lasted from 1860 to 1892. The tariff average rate on imports of manufactured goods in 1875 was from 40% to 50% in the United States, against 9% to 12% in continental Europe at the height of free trade. [44]
The United States has a highly developed mixed economy. [44] [45] [46] It is the world's largest economy by nominal GDP and second largest by purchasing power parity (PPP). [47]As of 2024, it has the world's sixth highest nominal GDP per capita and eighth highest GDP per capita by PPP). [10]
But GDP for the whole of 2020 was upgraded by 0.6 percentage point to show the economy contracting 2.2% amid robust performances in the third and fourth quarters.
The main prewar agricultural products of the Confederate States were cotton, tobacco, and sugarcane, with hogs, cattle, grain and vegetable plots. Pre-war agricultural production estimated for the Southern states is as follows (Union states in parentheses for comparison): 1.7 million horses (3.4 million), 800,000 mules (100,000), 2.7 million dairy cows (5 million), 5 million sheep (14 million ...