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How Did Railroads Changed American Society

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In this paper I will explain how the railroads changed American society, politics, and its economy during this era. Secondly, I’ll talk about the 1896 election and how that impacted America and changed American Politics and elections form that point on. Lastly, I will identify the 4 themes of the Gilded Age and explain the causes of these themes and the consequences it had on American politics, economy, and its society. When railroads were invented in America, and first started being used commercially and for businesses, it was a major technological leap. They created a huge demand for goods. They also needed a lot of steel to make the rails and trains, which benefited Carnegie a lot. Prior to the building of railroads in the USA, starting in the 1830’a with the Baltimore and Ohio Railway, things like clothes, food, letters, livestock could take months, and in some cases, even a year to get form the East coast to the West coast or vice versa. However, after people …show more content…

The election consisted of two candidates; William McKinley, a republican, and William Jennings Bryan, a democrat that also represented the populist movement. The populist movement was a revolt by farmers in the Midwest towards the Democrats and Republicans because they were ignoring the farmer’s interests and struggles. The election of 1896 is often called the realigning election that started the progressive era, which came after the gilded age. During the election, William McKinley mainly supported factory workers, professionals, farmers, and businessmen. McKinley’s campaign focused on the idea that the average working joe was against the rich, that made American poor because they were using up all of the money, which was basically gold. McKinley said that there was such an abundance of silver that if turned into coins, could make more money and the economy would be stable again since the rich wouldn’t have it

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In the election of 1896 Republican William Mckinley was pit against Democrat William Jennings Bryan. This election proved to reshape the way American politics was organized and is considered to be a major turning point. Three political parties battled to win this campaign. Silver was the central issue in the 1896 election because although President Grover Cleveland saved the gold standard, it did not end the debate on the money supply. When chosen by the republicans, Mckinley adopted a conservative view that upheld the gold standard.

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Even though the railroad existed before the great division between the north and the south and it mainly contributed in providing goods for both sides, the invention of the railroad greatly contributed to the civil war. The first railroad created in the US was in 1827 and their major role was to transport goods from the North to the South and back. As slaves became more abundant in the South and less present in the North a war began on the idea of slavery. The railroad caused this Civil War by bringing goods to only one side and keeping their advantage. It went from having different point of views to all out battles that started with starvation and isolation, but led to death and separation.

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Extra Credit Paper: Corruption Hidden among the Transcontinental White, Richard. “Information, Markets, and Corruption: Transcontinental Railroads in the Gilded Age” The Journal of American History 90:1 (June, 2993) 19-43 The Gilded Age described an era within the United States History that marked high economic growth and masked serious social problems. An increase in industrialization attracted many to a number of new opportunities to become part of the rising industries.

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This essay will generally analyze the relationship between the government and businesses, and how “Big Business” essentially took control of the Gilded Age. America’s first true big business mostly arose because of the railroads, which is fairly significant, because it essentially helped lead the development of other business barons such as, John D. Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, and J. Pierpont Morgan who all had particularly extraordinary accomplishments in shaping our economy. Most of these men who created big businesses after the Civil War were driven by a compelling desire to become rich and influential.

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During this time period there were great technological advancements. One of these advancements was railroads. Railroads were a positive change because it helped transport people and goods across the country. Businesses depended greatly upon transportation in order to transport their goods. Despite the positives of railroads, there were negatives.

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The farmers or the rural community represented by William Jennings Bryan versus the urbanists or city people represented by William McKinley. The election of 1896 signified a shift in the United States; A shift to an industrial society. A victory

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Throughout American History, revolutions in transportation have affected the American society politically, socially and economically. Soon after the war of 1812, American nationalism increased which leads to a greater emphasis on national issues, the increase in power and prevalence of the national government and a growing sense of the American Identity. Railways, canals, and Turnpikes began to increase making many people employed. The era of 1830-1860 represents a shift from agrarianism to industrialism. Overall, during the transportation revolution, construction of turnpikes, roads, canals, and railroads led to the market economy expansion, an increased population in America and alternations of the physical landscape of America.

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The impact it had on the gilded age was the number of jobs it provided to the fresh-in immigrants. Vanderbilt knew that he could hire immigrants and they would work for not that much money and with these new railroads america will be shrunk for easier expansion of the immigrants.

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The Panic of 1893 left America in a state of severe economic depression. People began to question the American gold standard and US tariff policy. William Jennings Bryan called for the reform of the monetary system in America. He wished to put an end to American reliance on the gold standard, and argued instead for the “free coinage of silver”. This policy would be inflationary, rather than the gold standard, which was deflationary .

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Coupled with a secure national currency these solutions would help bring financial stability to many Americans who were

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In the book “The Gilded Age and Progressive Era” William explained that the introduction of railroads brought about the expansion of the United States. The engine of the new industrialized economy, eased the fast transportation of raw materials and finished goods from one part of the country to the other. As the railroads grew in power, it increased the economy of the country. He further explained that the problem the economy was facing is that workers were maltreated. They were forced to work in bad weather conditions and were paid very

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Supporters of hard money, the gold standard, believed that a strong currency with a stable value was needed for economic growth, while supporters of soft money, bimetallism, believed that silver would help American farmers and factory workers . Wall Street was a strong supporter of the gold standard, believing that soft money would only reduce foreign investment and prevent manufacturers from being able to compete with foreign producers and that the inflation accompanying soft money would weaken purchasing power . Wall Street preferred deflation, often a result of the gold standard, since it was advantageous to them as creditors; moreover, a strong US dollar, a byproduct of deflation, would be beneficial to Wall Street when participating in international trade . Bryan was a fierce supporter of bimetallism, mentioning in his infamous Cross of Gold speech that the currency debate was “a struggle between the holders of idle capital and the struggling masses” . Bryan believed that the free coinage of silver would help the struggling farmers in rural areas who were affected by the low prices that deflation from the gold standard brought.

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In the Gilded Age from 1865 to 1900, farmers and industrial workers responded significantly to industrialization by forming alliances and movements. From 1865 to 1900, the farmers responded to industrialization significantly by forming alliances and movements. The farmers responded by creating the Farmer’s Alliance. The Farmer’s

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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.

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The late 1800s and the early 1900s marked the the beginning of the progressive era. The main goal of this era was to advance and equalize politics by limiting the power of big businesses and advancing social justice. This era also gave rise to the formation of new parties, one of them was the populist movement. The Populists or the People’s Party became relevant in the election of 1892 when they held a meeting at the Omaha platform resulting in a new party. Their formation was due to the unfair treatment of the farmers by those who had massive power such as monopolies, and being overlooked by both the Republican and Democrat parties.

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