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The statistics presented here show a Massachusetts at the end of a successful Civil War. Unlike the Confederate States, who emerged from the war with economies in ruins, the northern states' industry grew dramatically during the war years as manufacturers struggled to supply the newly enormous Union army with goods and supplies. For example, in the town of Orange, which is located far from the major centers of industry, non-farm employment rose from 90 in 1855 to nearly 300 in 1865. The largest numbers of those new employees worked at new plants for making straw hats, furniture, pails or tubs, or in textile-related industries.

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