How did the Railroad change America? Railroads created a more interconnected society. Counties were able help each other faster due to the decreased travel time. With the use of the steam engine, people were able to travel longer distances much faster and easier than if they were using only horse to pull wagons. The Railroads also created jobs across the United States that aided in the building of cities and towns across the country. With the invention of the steam engine those living in large cities across the country were able to obtain goods faster than they had been able with only horse powered means. Whatever good the railroads did for the country it also was rough on those who built it. Laying tracks in extreme weather conditions with …show more content…
rough and rugged terrain and living in pop up towns as the railroads moved. Prior to 1871, about 45,000 miles of railroad tracks had been laid.
From 1871 to 1900, about another 170,000 miles of railroad tracks were added. Congress approved the Pacific Railway Act in 1862. That authorized construction of a railroad from coast to coast. Counties were able to work together easier due to the less travel time; which created an interconnected society. The use of steam engines made it possible so people could travel further distances much easier than if they were using only horse drawn wagons. The Railroads also created jobs across the United States that aided in the building of cities and towns across the country. With the invention of the steam engine those living in large cities across the country were able to obtain goods faster than they had been able with only horse powered means. Whatever good the railroads did for the country it also was rough on those who built it. Living in railroad construction camps and Laying track was an extremely hard way to live and earn a living. Railroad construction crews had to lay tracks across and through mountain, across lakes and rivers. They also were subjected to extreme weather conditions. The railroad camps draw all types of rough and tough characters, almost all of whom were looking for ways to make easy money, illegally or legally. Living conditions in the camps were often very rough and crude. The federal government aided in the building of transcontinental railroads by land grants. Railroad companies
received millions of acres of public lands from Congress, for use and sell which allowed the Railroad companies to finance the construction of their railroads. Although not all the Railroad companies were built with government assistance. With the track laid the country was able to expand west. With transcontinental railroads build the nation could send goods and people from coast to coast in weeks instead of months allowing for trade and new economic growth and opportunities, stimulated the expansion of municipality and communities, tying the country together. Much of the railroad system allowed for new settlements to thrive along the rail networks. Small town and cities sprang up along the tracks. Whole families’ were able to move great distances much easier than in the past. Towns along the route thrived; they became layover points and new markets for goods. The railways provided better opportunities by enlarging markets; they inspired more people to start businesses which enlarged markets. Larger marketplace’s provided more people the chance to produce and sell merchandise. Before the railways items might not have had enough demand in a local area to demand production. Railroads allowed for the shipment of goods to lager area. The growth of the market allowed for larger demand and made additional goods viable. The railroads played an important and vital role in the American Civil War. They allowed the North and South to move equipment and men great distances to further their own war aims. Because of their tactical value to the North and South, both side focused their war efforts on capture of certain rail lines. In other words, the North and South both engaged in battles with the intention to capture different railroad hubs. For example, Corinth, Mississippi was a key railroad hub which was taken the North shortly after the Battle of Shiloh in May, 1862. Later, the South attempted to recapture the town and the railroads but they were unsuccessful. The North's more widespread railway system was the main reason for their ability to win the war. The railroad network of the North allowed them to move men and equipment further distances and with faster speed, providing them with an important advantage. Where would we be without the railways? Without the railroads the civil war and much of the United States of America would have taken many more years to develop. Railways are still used today to ship everything from food to gasoline. The railroads have shaped American and our everyday lives, by giving us faster travel and access to food and other necessities to make our world more convenient.
In Henry George’s article, What the Railroad Will Bring Us, it discusses the main social, political, and economic transformations that the trans-continental railroad would bring to the state of California. More importantly, he discusses not only the benefits, but also discusses the major drawbacks with the arrival of the railroad. Henry George stated the railroad would be the “greatest work of the age” (297). With a railroad stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, multiple benefits would be brought to the state of California. First, the railroad will not only create a new means of transportation across the United States, it additionally would also become “one of the greatest material prosperity” of its time (298). This means more people, more houses,
This had farmers in distress, for they were losing more money than they were making. Farmers’ incomes were low, and in order to make a profit on what they produced, they began to expand the regions in which they sold their products. This was facilitated through the railroads, by which through a series of grants from the government as contracted in the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862, were made possible; which latter lead to the boom of rail roads in 1868-1873.... ... middle of paper ...
The transcontinental railroad was a 1,800 mile railroad linking Omaha, Missouri with Sacramento, California. This railroad was built through varying environmental conditions including grassy plains, desserts, and mountains such as the Sierra. The railroad revolutionized transportation in the nineteenth century (Galloway 4). The First Transcontinental Railroad was built in the 1860s in order to connect the Eastern and Western coasts of the United States. In the book The Railroads, statistical data describes that “In 1830, 23 miles of railroad track were being operated in the United States; by 1890 that figure had grown to 166,703 miles, as cities and villages were linked across the lan...
Railroads were America’s first big business and contributed a great deal towards advancing industrialization. Beginning in the early 1870's, railroad construction in the United States expanded substantially. Before the year 1871, approximately fourty-five thousand miles of track had been laid. Up until the 1900's another one-hundred and seventy thousand miles were added to the nation's growing railroad system. This growth came about due to the erection of transcontinental railroads. Railroads supplied cities and towns with food, fuel, materials, and access to markets. The railroad system made way for an economic prosperity. The railroad system helped to build the physical growth of cities and towns. It even became another means of communication. Most importantly, it helped to produce a second
The Transcontinental Railroad was the largest project the United States had ever seen. Due to lack of technology, the enormous size of the project, and the environmental conditions, the railroad seemed to be an impossible task. This construction project posed a huge challenge to those working on it. The railroad’s route would span nearly seven hundred miles into desert and unexplored country. People had never traveled so far west before and there were no established cities there. Workers had to set up camps that were often disorganized and filled with crime. The railroad would pass through mountain ranges at extremely high elevations. Workers would blast through the granite of the Sierra Nevada and Rocky Mountain ranges, making only inches of progress everyday. Hunters used railroad lines to hunt buffalo, which was the main source of Native American food at the time. Between 1875 and 1885, northern and southern buffalo herds had been wiped out. Native Americans became upset when railroad companies seized their land. This resulted in many attacks on construction crews and the deaths of many engineers. When the workers weren't at work or asleep, they were at war with local tribes. Many workers kept loaded rifles at hand in the case of an Indian attack. The crews kept on working though, and by 1869 were laying track at an impressive rate How...
As the need of human transportation and various forms of cargo began to rise in the United States of America, a group of railroads with terminal connections along the way began to form across the land mass of this country, ending with the result of one of the most influential innovations in American history, allowing trade to flow easily from location to location, and a fast form of transportation, named the Transcontinental Railroad.
After America acquired the West, the need for efficient transportation heightened. Ideas circulated about a railroad that would spread across the continent from East to West. Republican congresses ruled for the federal funding of railroad construction, however, all actions were halted for a few years on account of a war. Following the American Civil War of 1861-1865, the race to build transcontinental railroad began in 1866. Lincoln approved Pacific Railway Act of 1862, granting two railroad companies the right to build the first American transcontinental railroad, (Clark 432).
With new railroads jobs are offered, businesses flourish with the need for more steel, and coal. New towns pop up along the railroads and bring new settlers. Even a new time zone is created to help with the train schedule.
Their expansion brought with them both industry and people, allowing for more people than ever to settle the Midwest quickly and efficiently (T&S 580). The most important thing that came from the creation of railroads was that it made the United States seem significantly smaller. Traveling across states no longer was a journey that would take several days, all it took was a short train ride. The railroad industry itself became a force to be reckoned with, “creating the modern practice of political “lobbying’” (T&S 580). Railroad companies used this practice to essentially buy out congressmen in order to build support for favorable laws. Compared to the relatively small industry that existed in 1865, the railroad business by 1897 had grown by a factor of nearly 6 times (T&S 580). Suddenly business in America was changing, the industry fueling this drastic change was also feeling shifts in the traditional
middle of paper ... ... Second, the railroad created hundreds of thousands of new jobs for both railroad workers and miners. Third, the railroads boosted England’s agricultural and fishing industries, which could transport their products to distant cities. Finally, by making travel easier, railroads encouraged people to take distant city jobs.
The Steam Locomotive was one of the most significant inventions that helped evolve the Industrial Revolution. This invention also advanced the trading system in the early stages of the United States .The Locomotive brought “philosophical economic, social and political changes the invention of the locomotive would bring.”(Perfecting the Steam Locomotive) Steam Locomotive also gave the ability to move societies and merchandise to any region of the country resulted in the growth of country settlements. If it wasn’t for the invention of railroads the geography and infrastructure would not be the same as modern day.
The first railroads were made in the 1550s, they first started off with wooden tracks with carts on them with a horse or horses pulling (About, inventors). They had the tracks because it was easier to move on the rails instead of the dirt roads. The railroads were called wagonways back in the 1550s (About, inventors). In 1776 the wooden rails were replaced by iron rails and the wooden wheels were replaced with iron wheels to make the railroad more smooth(About, inventors). In 1789 the iron wheels were replaced with flanged wheels, The flanged wheels were iron wheels that grip the track better (About.com,inventors). In 1800s the steam engine was invented for the railroad
...iling industry and the expansion of the west. The railroads helped these industries expand their territories which not only brought wealth to the large companies but, it also helped create jobs for many people. The railroad industry became an important gateway for immigrants because it introduced them to different opportunities of work and living. The railroad industry also helped to pour money into America’s economy. The railroad industry helped raise economic standards and change the way from an economy based on agriculture to an agriculture base on machinery. The railroads united America as a whole. It was the driving force of the industrial revolution that brought America together as a unity. The industrial revolution wouldn’t be the same if it wasn’t for the railroad industry that changed not only the people but, the country as a whole for the next fifty years.
Railroads could offer to go to more remote areas like in the country, where other means of transportation couldn’t go, like canals. These means of transportation caused much
During the 1800s to early 1900s, an era of industrialization spread throughout the United States. The Industrial Revolution was a historic period that changed how people worked and lived, transportation was one of the main advances of the Industrial age. These new methods of transportation improved the lives of many, without the transportation revolution the U.S likely would have remained a rural nation and not connected by the ever easier transportation of people and goods.