Five Jobs That Transformed America

As the United States recovered from the aftermath of the Civil War, it entered a new era shaped by the Second Industrial Revolution. This transformative age, from 1870 to just before World War I, saw the United States change from a largely agrarian society into an industrial power. 

The people who helped drive this change included the approximately four million people who had been enslaved before the Civil War, the 12 million immigrants who arrived between 1870 and 1900, and the more than 800,000 soldiers who mustered out after the Civil War, who returned to farming, for example, or who sought new jobs based on skills developed during their military service.  

This time period saw the U.S. population more than double—largely driven by immigration. But where people lived also shifted. In 1870, more than twice as many people lived in rural rather than urban areas. By 1910, the distribution was closer to an even split between urban and rural locations.   

The jobs that helped to transform the United States during the Second Industrial Revolution were a combination of traditional occupations as well as new industrial-related ones. Did your ancestors work in one of these jobs? According to the U.S. Census Bureau, these were the most common jobs during this time:

1. Farmers

Farming remained the largest occupation during the second half of the 19th century. It grew increasingly mechanized and was largely devoted to cash crops. Liberal government land grant policies, like the 1862 Homestead Act, plus the expansion of railroad lines, prompted more American farmers to move westward.

• 1870: 6.8 million Americans were farmers or agricultural laborers—more than half of the population.
• 1910: 11.3 million Americans, or about one-third of the population, worked the land.

2. Domestic Servants

The second-most common occupation during this time was the broad category of domestic service, which included jobs like housekeepers, cooks, and maids. Domestic workers were usually young, single women whose terms of service lasted until marriage.  Young immigrant women held many of these jobs in larger cities.

• 1870: More than 975,000 Americans worked in domestic service, with women holding more than 80 percent of the jobs. More than 145,000 workers in this category were native to Ireland—three times the number from any other country. 
• 1910: Numbers for the domestic and personal service category tripled to 3.7 million. Women still represented more than half of these workers.

3. Non-Farm Laborers

The Second Industrial Revolution in the United States involved tremendous growth in nonagricultural jobs. This broad category covers a wide range of occupations from work in textile mills to transportation-related work like longshoremen and those who helped build roads. Immigrants arriving in the country at this time were often in positions classified as “unskilled labor” because this was usually all that was available to them as a means of generating income to support themselves and their families.

• 1870: Federal census records reported 1,046,548 non-farm laborers. More than 144,000 worked in textile mills, while 126,000 worked in transportation-related jobs like road building and repair, or as longshoremen and stevedores.  
• 1910: The number of general laborers classified as “unskilled” had grown to 5,461,957.

4. Clerks

The number of clerks grew with the nation’s infrastructure, becoming one of the largest occupations by 1910. They worked in nearly every industry, from working in a store or bank to managing the paperwork for railroad companies or corporations that shipped goods across the country and around the world.

• 1870: Clerks and copyists in general, plus clerks in government offices, hotels, stores, and restaurants, totaled about 258,650 workers. Women represented less than 3 percent of clerks at this time.  
• 1910: In the span of 40 years, the number of clerks and copyists jumped to 1.7 million. Women now made up more than one-third of this group. 

5. New Industrial Jobs—Miners, Ironworkers, and Railroad Employees

The most direct evidence of the Second Industrial Revolution is seen in the dramatic increase in jobs related to industry: miners who dug the coal to fire it, ironworkers who built the industrial U.S., railroad workers who transported people and goods across the country, and in the early 1900s, those who worked in the new automobile industry.

Railroad Employees

• 1870: More than 159,000 worked as employees of railroad and steam railroad companies.  
• 1910: At least 1,532,240 transportation workers held jobs like locomotive engineers, conductors, switchmen, teamsters, and brakemen, and other railroad laborers. 

Ironworkers

• 1870: More than 81,000 worked as operatives in iron and steel works, foundries, rolling mills, and furnaces.
• 1910: At least 1,405,990 worked as machinists, steam-boiler makers, and other iron and steel workers, a group which would include those in the emerging auto industry. 

Miners

• 1870: 180,000 people worked to extract coal, metals, and minerals. 
• 1910: 1,060,000 were employed in the mining industry.

If your ancestors were living in the United States between the Civil War and World War I, what jobs did they hold? Check to see what occupation they listed in U.S. Federal Census records during this time. Discover your family story with a free trial on Ancestry^®.