DuPont black powder shaped and reshaped the United States and the world through its use in building the Erie Canal and the Transcontinental Railroad, in the firearms and artillery of the United States military during the American Civil War and World War I, and in construction, mining, clearing land for farming, and other purposes for generations. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, DuPont expanded beyond powder making on the banks of the Brandywine. Within a generation, DuPont had agents throughout the United States, South America, Africa, and Asia, everywhere but Europe. In the 19th century, the du Pont family and DuPont Company experimented in industries from explosives to wool production and many others. In the 20th century, the company expanded into chemical research, creating products like Nylon, Teflon, and Kevlar. From their arrival in the new United States to the early 20th century, the du Pont family and DuPont Company helped shape the nation through centuries of innovation.