Before the 1860s U.S. railroads were inefficient for big business to explode, and shipping goods wasn’t as easy before Cornelius Vanderbilt organized a steam ship company. He also controlled all lines of railroad linking New York to the Great Lakes. His strategy was to create a monopoly to gain wealth and power of all the effective railroad lines into one major company. He expressed competition and set unfair prices for the workers. The workers soon revolted and went on strike in 1877 due to the low pay and increase of work hours.
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.
Amid the invention and introductions to the world in the 1800’s especially in the United States, there was a demand for railroads to make traversing the Country easier. They needed a fast way to transport people and goods all around the country, especially between major cities, a great example of this being accomplished is the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad. On account of the demand of railroads, there was also a demand for people to work on and build the railroads throughout the country. Railroad work opened up an abundant amount of jobs all around the country which was positive for the nation, but for the people working it was a very physically intensive job and low paying.
Ever wondered how the railroad industry boomed in Mississippi? The Mississippi Central Railroad was a main cause of it. It was one of the earliest big railways in Mississippi. The Mississippi Central Railroad really changed and expanded the railroads in Mississippi by evolving how railroads were operated throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Transcontinential Railroad had a huge impact on the Native Ameriacans, Society and the Environment. Here is one example of how the Native Americans were impacted: Some of the hardships they faced were very little food, only ate once during their working hours. They worked long hours for very little money, and they had ages 10 and up working. Transcontinential Railroad helped the society grow with the transportation it provided. It replaced wagon trains of previous decades which became usless.
To say the time period following the Civil War in the United States involved a lot of change would be a understatement. Between the years 1870 and 1900 the people of the United States lived through a period of great change. Not only did they witness technological advances that would change their daily lives, they also saw new laws and organizations formed. All of this was done in hopes of improving the country. Many of these changes came about because of the type of businesses that were formed.
Transportation Revolution The transportation revolution is believed to have begun in 1807 when the government seemed it was going to become active in growing infrastructure. The treasury secretary, at the time, Albert Gallatin was asked to develop “a plan for the application of such means as are within the power of Congress, to the purpose of opening roads and making canals” (W&R). This plan was not to happen and throughout this revolution the government was only responsible for a few projects. Without much government aid, entrepreneurs took matters into their own hands, creating competition.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like without transportation? In the 1890’s the railroad system, the main source of transportation at that time, came to a halt after a strike called the Pullman Strike. A severe depression had hit the United States in 1893. This hit a railroad manufacturing company called the Pullman company hard.
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
The railroad was and is a proud industry in the United States that helped to formulate one of the greatest unions in history. Today the United States railroad is at a pivotal point in its existence as it’s populates reevaluate transportation and the use of fossil fuels. It can even be said that the railroad system is in a renaissance period throughout the United States. In history, renaissance was understood to be the revival of something. Is the railroad going through a revival in other parts of Earth as well?
The Transcontinental Railroad The completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad was an important event in the United States history. There were many challenges in building it, but after it was finished, it connected the East Coast of the United States to the West Coast. The railroad took three whole years to build, with the help of two railroad companies and thousands of other hired workers.
According to the article The Railway Journey, modern transportation “created a definite spatial distance between the places of production and the place of consumption did the goods become uprooted commodities” (40 Railroad Journey). Basically, this means that since the railroad allowed goods to be shipped to further distances at faster rates which resulted in mass productions and shipments of goods which resulted in a stable economy for the United
The building of roads, canals and railroads played a large role in the United States during the 1800s. They served the purpose of connecting towns and settlements so that goods could be transported quickly and more efficiently. These goods could be transported fast, cheap and in safe way through the Erie Canal that was built to connect the Great Lakes to New York. Railroads were important during Civil War as well, because it helped in the transportation of goods, supplies and weapons when necessary. These new forms of transportation shaped the United States into the place that it is today.
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).
Throughout the many years of negotiations and debates, Canada has been formed into the country we know it as today. The events that have taken place in the past, have played a significant role on the way our society is today. After many years, Confederation brought the colonies of British North America together and united them into one nation to form Canada. Throughout the 1900s, Canada won independence, turning the colony into a dominion, and gave the country an image of achievement and national unity. The Railways played a huge role in industrialization and tied the colonies together.
