31
section of the country and the industry in which they
worked. A dollar per day was most common. Carpenter's
wages ranged from $1.50 in some industries to as high as
$2.50 per day in ship carpentry. Blacksmiths could
expect to earn about $1.50 per day, and the -wages of
mechanics ranged from approximately $1.10 to $2.50 per
4
day while the average was slightly under $2.
The money did not go far. Some idea of retail
prices of various basic commodities may be gained from
the data in Table 1.
4Ibid., pp. 517-63.
Of the 10,530,000 working population in i860,
some 6,210,000 (or 59%) were engaged directly in agri
culture and 1,930,000 (or 18%) were engaged in manu
facturing and hand trades and construction. Services
of various types engaged another 1,310,000 people (or
12%), and transportation, trade and finance accounted
for 780,000 (or slightly over 7%). Only 170,000 found
employment in mining. Historical Statistics, p. 74,
Series D 57-71.
Xn I869, 22.2% of national income originated
in agriculture, 20.3% in manufacturing and construction;
and, transportation, communication, trade and finance
accounted for 37*6%. Services of all kinds, including
government, accounted for 18.4% of national income.
(it is interesting to note in passing the disparity
that exists between the proportion of the working pop
ulation engaged in each field and the amount of income
arising in those fields. The distribution of workers
by industry was not radically different in 1869 from what
it had been in i860.) U.S. Department of Commerce,
Bureau of the Census, Long Term Economic Growth, 1860-1965
(Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office,1966),
Part XXX, p. 79, Table 4.