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The spread of agriculture during the 19th century played a part in the early industrialization of the United States. Although most early agricultural pursuits were related to subsistence farming, or perhaps the trading of commodities within a particular locality, what little industry did develop usually involved sales of agricultural products.
By the mid-19th century, as the Industrial Revolution began to take hold in America, the relationship between agriculture and industry had become more pronounced. The advance of industry, primarily in the field of transportation, had a profound effect on the ability of the farmer to move goods to market. Ironically, much of the labor-facilitating industrialization came from the rural areas themselves, in the form of displaced farmers who flocked to the cities to work in the factories and mills.