The Growth Of The Railroad In America Summary

As stated by Northern Illinois University, “The railroad became a sectional issue, with South and North competing for its terminus”. (Monroe,

There have been steam engine trains trailing the United States in the early 1800’s. Many of the early ones ran only a few dozen miles. When the railways ran longer distances, the cost to build and later ride them were be extremely high. However, long distances were what Minnesota needed to keep up with the competitive and growing nation around it. “Construction began on the first track in 1861 in St. Paul and was completed in 1862.”

In the 1840s, the steamboat was a very common mode of transportation along the rivers of south-central states. This, of course, resulted in increased business on and around the rivers that run through America. Another transportation mode that was boosted by the expansion was the railway system, as significant numbers of Americans desired to move West. As the century progressed, the railroad system began to expand to help transport both people and large amounts of agriculture goods from place to place. Not only did the expansion of the agricultural industry boost America’s economy, the continuous Westward expansion attracted more Americans to travel and settle Westward; this resulted in further economic growth due to the nation’s expanding transportation networks, the building of new infrastructure, and the settlement of new towns and communities which relied on goods and services to

The civil war, starting in 1861, lasted 4 years. Afterwards, reconstruction in the south begun, but 15 years later, 1880, marked the end of reconstruction altogether, leaving both sides effected. Between the years 1860 and 1880, the civil war and its aftermath transformed relationships and progress in America. The Union tried to enforce a positive integration for the African Americans but faced resistance from the South.

During the period of 1860-1900, there were many factors that helped to promote America’s industrial growth. With railroads increasing commerce, a large supply of necessary resources: coal, iron, and water, help from the supportive government, and a large wave of new immigrants it really was irresistible to not turn into a much more mechanized country. Once the 20th century was upon us, America was one of the greatest industrial nations in the World. Industrialization is what has led this country to be as successful as we know it today. As shown in Document 2, in 1860, there were less than 40,000 miles of railroad track.

How does the United States railroad infrastructure compare to the rest of the World? What is the future of railroad during this renaissance period? These are some of the questions that this paper attempts to answer while giving numerical

During the mid-1800s, the South, a region of solely one industry, found itself isolated from the rest of the U.S. Naturally, in respect to their primarily industry, instead of taking part in the quickly expanding rail network in America going on during this age, the South advanced as market and transportation centers instead. In addition, an other isolation factor was the major barrier of the Appalachian Mountains, which presented difficulties in attempts to building railroad lines. Lew presents this as one of the factors which tribute to the high degree of isolation and lower development level in the deep

Transcontinental railroad. In C. L. Clark (Ed.), The American Economy: A Historical Encyclopedia (2nd ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.apus.edu/login?url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/abcamerecon/transcontinental_railroad/0?institutionId=8703 Railroads and Westward Expansion. (2011).

Because of the rapid settlement of the western land in the 1850s, Congress wanted to enforce a transcontinental railroad to replace America’s current weak transportation system—horse-drawn carriages were still used and soldiers often had to walk. But due to the constant competition between the Northern members and the Southern

White begins his book with discussing the extent of the railway system and the way it operated in time before the 1860’s, and the effect the Civil War had on the original inception of the idea behind the building of the transcontinentals. White writes about how the establishment of the transcontinentals affected people outside of the United States. The establishment of these railways scared politicians from the politicians in Canada and Mexico because it could lead to invasion or an establishment of a North American Empire. Beyond international concerns of expansion, the Native Americans were experiencing the expansion first hand by being kicked off of their own land in order to make way for the transcontinentals. White touches on how business monopolies and political corruption influenced land titles.

The Transcontinental Railroad played a significant role in the settlement of the American West. As of May 10th, 1869, this railroad became the area’s newest and fastest mode of transportation. Its first obligation was to bring settlers in at very low cost, and, sometimes, even free of charge. The types of people that began to migrate West were those who were searching for a better life. One which contains less poverty and more opportunities.

The Tremendous Impact of Railroads on America In the late 19th century, railroads propelled America into an era of unprecedented growth, prosperity, and convenient transportation. Prior to the building of the railroads, America lacked the proper and rapid transportation to make traveling across the country economical or practical. Lengthy travel was often cumbersome, costly, and dangerous.

One major industry during this time period was found in the railroad. The of course was also considered the center of national or both financial and political corruption (White, 21). While transcontinental railroads were essential developments for the growth of the United

The first way that the economy was impacted was that with the ease and efficiency of the railroads, they created a large demand for goods and labor because they needed a lot of people to help build the railroads and also needed a large quantity of steel for the rails and wood for the railroad ties. Secondly the railroads created a huge national market because of the simplicity of delivering goods from place to place. The railroads helped the people in even the most rural place prosper with the cost efficient transportation of the trains. From 1830 to 1861, the United States laid aproximately 30,000 miles of railroad track, which led to an increase in demand for coal which was used to produce iron for the

Before the 1800s, there were two early roads, Forbes and Wilderness Road. In 1811, the National Road known as Cumberland Road was built to reach Western settlements, because they needed a road to ship farm products that connect East and West. The National Road passed thousand of wagons and coaches. John F. Stover states in American Railroads, “The rich agricultural production of the country, the small but expanding factories of eastern cities, and the largely untapped natural resources of the nation-all of these called for improvements in transport. ”(Stover1)