Change.

The span between 1878 and 1899 represented a pivotal period for American businesses and the national economy. Over these two dozen years, millions of Americans found themselves caught up in massive, fundamental transformations. The process of industrialization, which had begun decades earlier, reached a dizzying pace as the century came to a close. As industrialization quickened, new kinds of businesses took hold in the economy—businesses that mass-produced and mass-distributed consumer goods on a scope unimagined by earlier entrepreneurs. This overhaul happened with astonishing speed, within the space of a single generation. It also propelled basic change in daily life: by the beginning of the twentieth century, new workplaces, stores, and products were changing how most Americans made their living, how they were paid, and where and what they bought with their earnings. In addition, overseas markets became more important in the 1890s, as did foreign (especially British) investments...