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How Did Richard Trevithick Impact The World

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Richard Trevithick, paved the way to a steam run America and the transcontinental railroad. He invented the first high powered steam engine and the first steam run railroad locomotive; two of the most important inventions in history. Born April 13th, 1771 and form Cornwell England; one of the richest mining areas in the world. He had a modest start and did not do well at all in school; and yet he still went on to be one of the greatest contributors to the progress of America and the world.
Trevithick was born in Camborne, a mineral-mining area of Cornwall. Out of six siblings, only one was younger than him. He was very athletic and liked to concentrate more on sports than school. He attended the village school in Camborne. However; he threw …show more content…

It wasn’t until 1830 that railroads were commonly built. Between 1832 and 1837, over 1200 miles of railroad track was laid. Railroads had an enormous impact on the development of the United States.
In 1862, the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroad Companies were mandated to build a transcontinental railroad by the Pacific Railroad Act. This railroad would connect the United States from one end (east), all the way to the other (west). From 1862 to 1869, Central Pacific and Union Pacific made their way across the US, towards each other. After great risk and struggle, they finally met in Promontory, Utah, May 10, 1869.
Locomotives were the most efficient way to move cargo over long land distances thus far in history. Today still, more than 33% of all freight transport happens via railway systems. Now, there are hundreds of thousands of miles of rail linking major cities across the country. However; this was not always the case with railways. Two-hundred years ago, the Transcontinental railroad connected Council Bluffs, Iowa, with the San Francisco Bay, and that was the most expensive railway we …show more content…

At the all-time high of their employment, Chinese immigrants made up over 80% of the Central Pacific’s laborers. The Transcontinental Railroad along with the California Gold Rush brought in the first great wave of immigrants from Asian continent to the United States of America. The completion of the trail road resulted in the decline and eventually the end of the use of wagon trains, and stagecoach lines, immigrant trails, and an intensified constriction of Native Americans and their territories. The western Great Plains became rapidly populated, pushing native people into smaller and less habitable, fertile areas. Telegraph lines were also erected along the path of the railroad. The multi-line telegraph replaced the single-line Transcontinental

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