This process concentrated wealth in the hands of industrialists, whose fortunes became tied to the fluctuations of a consumer market. During the Industrial Revolution, capitalist America, with its large population and vast natural resources, became an economic juggernaut that took advantage of a vast internal and international consumer market. The political implications of the American Industrial Revolution included the rise of the United States as a global economic power, the clash between traditional culture and modern progress, and the passage of labor-related legislation. The Civil War represented a conflict between an agrarian society, which relied upon slave labor, and an industrial society in which paid employees fueled a consumer economy. The expansion of the American economy had international repercussions, including the opening of relations with Japan and spurred rapid territorial