Introduction -- American business in the Civil War -- Giant business in communications and transportation -- The commercial response to a mass market -- The United Fruit Company -- The Singer Sewing Machine Company -- Giant farms -- The American Sugar Refining Company -- The American Tobacco...

The economic and cultural roots of contemporary American business can be traced directly to developments in the era between the Civil War and World War I. The physical expansion of the country combined with development of transportation and communication infrastructures to create a free market...