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By the way, we should take note of the most amazing economic growth anyone can imagine.
Consider railroads.
By 1857 the US already has about 25,000 miles of railroad, nearly 1/3 in the South.
And the US is adding about seven miles of new railroad every day.
Imagine how many men with picks, shovels & wheelbarrows that takes!.

As of 1857 immigration is souring, exports exploding, the economy is booming and banks are loaning money hand-over-fist to build more infrastructure.
Railroad stock prices are going up & up, the sky's the limit, right?

So if you want to get in on a good thing, friends, now would be a good time to buy... hi-tech railroad stocks.
Oh yeh, that's the ticket.

Cool. I could get on a train here in Charlotte, and, after much doodling around east, north, and west, end up in Hannibal, MO, and then hike to my grandparents’ house, or pick up a ride on a farm wagon.

the most amazing economic growth anyone can imagine...As of 1857 immigration is souring, exports exploding, the economy is booming and banks are loaning money hand-over-fist to build more infrastructure.

Generally, all done, not by some grand plan of government, but by free individuals and companies engaged in the voluntary cooperation between buyers and sellers seeking their own best interests in the market economy free of federal government interference. The results: amazing economic growth. It's what the market economy does if government is not in the way.

During this period, the feds were small, in the deep background of daily life, and hovered around 5% or so of the GDP. America in the 1800's, the Civil War excepted, is one of the few periods in the whole recorded history of man, of true political & economic freedom of individuals from government interference. The results were astonishing.