Cause Of Economic Growth In The 19th Century

Even though the increase in population due to mass immigration boosted the number of workers in America which bolstered the economy, and can be attributed to laissez fair, it is my belief that the direct intervention of the government was the cause of the economic growth in the 19th Century. Both economic and social regulations set forth by the government, had their roles in developing a more successful economy than the country had yet seen. The loans and grants provided by the government for the railroad companies, proved to be very beneficial investments in further stimulating the economy. The government then took it one step further by offering the incentive of a substantial tax break for companies if they met certain health and safety regulations,

Railroads were given land grants for each mile of track they laid, also receiving sixteen to forty-eight thousand dollars per mile depending on the terrain of the land. This contributed largely to increasing the nation’s economy by supplying the companies that were building the railroads the funds they wouldn’t have otherwise had, this led to significant increases in the development of an already growing economy. The railroads gave way to new jobs, and creating new jobs meant fewer people went unemployed. In addition the railroads increased westward expansion, new towns emerged alongside the increasing amounts of railroads being built and with new towns came even more jobs and the people of America flocked westward. The United States continued to grow in population and in diversity creating a mass boost in economic prosperity. In total four out of five of the nation’s Transcontinental Railroads were built with the assistance of the government, further indicating the massive effect their help had on the ever growing American

The railroad industry created many new jobs, but these jobs were very treacherous. Many workers were injured or even killed in train wrecks or other job related accidents. This caused widespread attention, as families most of the time lost the bread winners for their household’s, crippling the common family. In 1893 the urging of commission and railroad unions lead to the passing of the “Coupler Bill” which banned the dangerous link and pin method of linking train cars, saving workers countless injuries which made their work more difficult or downright impossible, along with possibly saving a unknown amount of lives. The safety and health of workers is very essential to the economy because the ability of a worker to do his/her job determines the quality and production output of products from a company. If a worker is injured then they most likely won’t be able to work at as high a capacity as if they were fully healthy. This leads to a less efficient business process lowering any company’s capability to meet demand and damaging the economy as a whole. All of these aspects brought about the 1970 passing of the Occupational Safety and Health Act which gave the government the authority to set safety and health regulations. The effect of increasing health and safety reforms increased worker lifespan