3. Despite the initial sentiment of economic historians, the railroad was not an integral part of American economic development after 1860. Even though the railroads were not crucial to economic growth does not negate the fact that the railroads were the first big business in the United States. The railroads benefited from economies of scale, increases in technology and pro-railroad legislation. The miles of track line increased exponentially from 30,000 miles of main line track in 1860 to 254,037 miles by 1916.
The construction of railroads required vast quantities of steel, which led to the growth of the steel industry. Similarly, railroads helped to create a market for coal, which was used to power locomotives (White, 2011). The growth of these industries, in turn, created new jobs and further stimulated economic growth. Another important transportation development of the period was the construction of canals.
New inventions such as the railroad positively impacted American unity during the Antebellum period. Before the advancements, people who wanted to travel spent months saving up to buy a brittle wagon, with the journey being long and extremely dangerous. The new technology of railroads in the 1820s changed that. Though many would argue that for the people, the cons of these new inventions outweighed the benefits, due to the fact that because of railroads, workers went through poor working conditions with cheap pay. While this may be true, railroads paved the way for different cultures and establishments to spread across the country.
In the late 1800s, the Transcontinental Railroad was constructed and that transformed the United States in many ways. This railroad helped expand the United States out to the west that could sew the country together and be connected in some sort of way. The Transcontinental Railroad impacted the United States economically by populating new areas for agriculture and mining, taxing railway shipping, and by importing and exporting. To start off with, a reason for an economic impact is the way the railroad helped populate new land that can open for mining, agriculture, and retail. Due to being able to mine, farm, and sell more helps the country expand in valuable resources found in the country, while also being able to sell food and clothes the
With more railroads being built, it helped to establish the United States, and industries in the West used the railroads to connect industry to retail markets in Eastern United States. Without railroads, it would have been hard for the Western States to expand.
The railroad also contributed greatly to economic wealth in, such improvements as faster public transportation, the spreading of new ideas and the discovery of new territories. The creation of the Transcontinental Railroad also led to the expansion of foreign as well as domestic markets. The railroad was not good for everyone,
This revolutionized how time was understood and managed. The growth of the railroad network also spurred urbanization as cities grew around major rail hubs, attracting workers
The transcontinental railroad improved transportation by increasing supply and demand, and connecting people in the United States. Before the railroad,
The Transcontinental Railroad greatly impacted America. It connected the East to the West and made the world seem much smaller. This success gave way for more railroads to be made, multiple withing the span of just years! The acts and treaties along the way helped improve the land as this move Westward was taking place. People were also gaining more abstract feelings of hope and optimism.
In 1830 the Baltimore and Ohio railroad tested a steam powered train this lead to Americans developing their own railroads.(pg. 256) Railroads helped transport goods and people move across the country faster than ever before. Railroads were used for many other things including transporting mail from one place to another. This helped people communicate with one another faster. By 1810 and 1820’s the number of letters delivered sent out went up by five million annually and cut the time in half to reach between cities and states.
The building and growth of railroads from 1865 to 1900 played a very crucial role in American society which cannot be underemphasized. Railroads brought about many important happenings that that helped in the development of America and its people, its growth commenced the transportation of goods from one place to another thus it help people carry out business transaction in a quick and reliable way as opposed to what they were accustomed to before the railroads growth which was harder to move goods from one state to another and this caused many inconveniences that resulted to the wastage of time, capital and resources. Furthermore the growth of railroads brought about new dwelling places as people wanted to settle down in places that are connected to the railroads and that made it simpler for people to commute from place to place without wasting much time and this also brought about urbanization as people became many and this contributed to the growth of the economy and develop the country at large because people where now more than ever ready to engage in dealing with each other because
In 1870, the invention of the railroad made these trip attainable and the West accessible. Since the West was now more easily accessible, Americans were able to use the newly attained land to farm and transport goods back to the East. As a result, innovation and advances in farm equipment occurred, which boosted production. Therefore, the railroads changed how goods were transferred and made them more accessible to everyone.
Railroads also played a big role in the growth of cities and the expansion of trade. They opened up new areas for settlement and helped connect rural areas to urban centers. This helped spur economic growth and create new job opportunities. Plus, railroads created a demand for things like steel, coal, and timber, which boosted the mining and manufacturing sectors. They also brought people together, making it easier for ideas and innovations to spread across the country.
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
With the advent of the railroad, many of these issues disappeared. Railroads had a major impact on advancing the American economy, transforming America into a modern society, and improving an antiquated transportation system. The building of railroads created rapid economic growth in America. Railroad companies employed more than one million workers to build and maintain railroads. At the same time, coal, timber, and steel industries employed thousands of workers to provide the supplies necessary to build railroads (Chapter 12 Industrialization).
