In the mid 1850s what ways showed how the north was becoming an urban society

The Industrial Revolution, which was the transition from hand production methods to machines occurred in Europe and the US between 1820 and 1840, brought as result the use new chemical and iron production processes, the use of steam power, the development of machine tools as well as the rise of the factory system.

The effects of this Industrial Revolution were notable in Northwest of America, specifically in Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia, where such industrial development transformed them into industrial cities and growing commercial centers.  

Some of the features which showed that such Northwest cities were becoming an urban society were the dense network of railroads, canals present in them as well as the telegraph network which linked the nation economically.

a phrase from a poem by ralph waldo emerson about the battle of lexington and concord. emerson's words read, “here once the embattled farmers stood / and fired the shot heard round the world.”