1820-1837 are the years of the first industrial revolution. The second most important event in the history of humankind, after the introduction of agricolture and urbanization.
You know, hog all the cotton of the world, dominate the markets, and destroy the competition (local cotton processing in India). Then sink the astronomical profits in the only investment big enough to eat them, new technology. Have the railroad expansion CREATE the steel industry, and this generate in a cascade loads of new industries and new markets.
It is basically the time in which the dominant economic model of the planet changed, and to simulate this in a game is no easy feat. It is MUCH easier to to have two completely different simulations, one before and one after.
