Answer: Textiles
In the late 1800s, the United States experiences remarkable industrial growth and a shift in the types of goods it produced. New technology greatly contributed to this change. Population movement and rural migration also ocurred at this time. As industries were growing, there was more demand for workers in urban areas, in particular in the Northwest and Midwest. Immigrants and former farmers moved to the cities in great quantities looking for work opportunities. Of these new industries, textiles added the most value to the economy in 1879.