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Transcontinental Railroad

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Technological innovations, such as the transcontinental railroad in the United States, forced society to reevaluate the role of government. The most obvious repercussion of the construction of the railroads in America is the control of ecosystem services such as land and agriculture. Railroads were sloppy; they did not care for where they were placed, unless it maximized profit; it did not care for the impact on society and it blurred the lines of government intervention in public and private enterprises. Thus, the transcontinental railroad transformed the political system by creating a modern corporate lobby. Space as a Political Concept The organization of railroads, both for public and private use, symbolized the transformation of “space” …show more content…

The modern corporate lobby sought to control space to maximize profit by disregarding the direct impacts on landowners and the cultural impact that railroads would eventually have on society. For example, “state legislation aided the railroad construction by allowing the exercise of eminent domain” (Steiner, 2006). Eminent domain allowed the railway to be built without prior permission to the landowner; they would however, be compensated for the cost of land and any other damages associated with the railway in their property. Regardless of the impact that the construction of the railroad had on the landowner, the opportunity cost that would maximize the corporates’ profit was much …show more content…

By using the railroads people were able to travel towards the western frontier in hopes of a better place. It is true that railroads organized internal transportation and intimately connect the Midwest to West. Furthermore, this opportunity was not accessible to everyone. Unequal gender and racial relationships became more obvious for those who had the short end of the stick. Womyn and men, as were colored and white people, were physically separated in a streetcar. Like in Stansell’s City of Womyn, a proclamation of working class womyn facing society’s pressures, limited womyn to the household or else they were considered promiscuous. In essence, the modern corporate lobby reshaped the space to maximize profit without an assessment of the cost to landowners and

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Statistical analysis of these factors has revealed that the railroad was a factor leading to settlement, with at least one half of urban growth in the Midwest in the late 1800s coming directly from railroad systems (Atack et al., 2010). As previously mentioned, poor soils and precipitation rates of the middle American continent prevented rich agricultural production found further east. This meant that farms would have to be larger to produce an equal amount of food and dense populations would benefit from supplementation from eastern production. By default, this meant the western development needed to originate in eastern cities and matriculate through towns and railroads to eventually reach western settlers (Wand and Latham, 2001).

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320 Words | 2 Pages

Babanjit S. Boyal A Glitch in the Modernity of Western America In the few beginning passages of Richard White’s “Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America” he talks about how big monopolized corporations in the late nineteenth and early twenty first centuries built an overabundance of railroads adjoining the East with the West in the United States. These railroads where indefinitely built ahead demand when analyzing the fact that the country had just finished fighting the Civil War at the time.

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926 Words | 4 Pages

The railroad completely changed the way trade worked. Before the railroad people had to deliver goods by wagon, and that would cause a lot of problems because of the rough terrain and long delivery times, but with the railroad it made things 100 times easier for the single conductor, and the buyers who would get their product much faster than before. Railroads not only helped the economy, but it helped people as well, unlike most things that happened in the U.S. economy, there was little to nothing negative about the creation of railroads which was ideal because it is still being used today. Preceding the railroads there were steamboats, the steamboats were a big hassle because of the dangers, such as indian attacks or boiler explosions, but the Framers were not going to back down until they found the perfect way of trade, hence the railroad. Another way America increased trade was when the cotton gin was created.

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915 Words | 4 Pages

In the late 1800’s manifest destiny had taken over and many were moved to the west. With this movement came new inventions designed to make life easier and more productive, but it had a negative effect on the nation contrary to popular belief. The expansion of the railroads during the late 1800’s had a negative effect on many, including the natives Americans and other businesses. The Native Americans were the most affected by the expansion of the railroad. The first thing the iron roadway affected was the native American food source, the buffalo.

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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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54 Words | 1 Pages

Without the assistance of the U.S. government, railroad construction between 1860 and 1900 would have been greatly curtailed. Building railroads was very expensive and railroad companies could not build them without help, in the form of grants, from the U.S. government. Congress also helped out the railroad companies in the form of land grants.

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699 Words | 3 Pages

Without the development of railroads, America would not have become what it is today. The railroad played a huge part in the economy and in the war. Many people were able to build their lives because of how easy it was to move objects. Before the transcontinental railroad was made the way goods were transported was by sea around South America. The railroad stretched 2000 miles through the America compared to the 18,000 miles needed for ships to travel.(“Digital History”) With this shorter distance allowed for more people to be able to obtain goods.

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93 Words | 1 Pages

Many environmental changes occurred during the transcontinental railroad’s construction. Wherever workers could not overcome terrain, they changed it instead. The transcontinental railroad route was made up of tunnels, cuts, fills, and bridges. Even though it remains a marvel to have built and planned, many of the resources on the route were used to a great expense. With the land along the railroad, timber, water, and minerals could be collected and sold.

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1032 Words | 5 Pages

The Transcontinental Railroad “May God continue the Unity of our country as this railroad unites the two great oceans of the world - David Hewes” (gliderlehrman.com). The Transcontinental Railroad was built to make traveling from the East to the West easier. By doing that it also created a connection between the East and West part of the United States (history.com). The railroad was successfully built but also had struggles with the planning and building of the Union Pacific and of the Central Pacific. Before the Transcontinental Railroad was built, the journey westward was a real risk.

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The railroad was America's first technological corridor. Just as it fostered the growth of the American economy, it also fostered the development of the nation's public discourse and intellectual

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Steel, Steam, and the Death of a People In October of 1893 the Central Pacific Railroad Company drove the first spike into what would soon become the most important railroad in the world and one which would change U.S. history forever. In the west the route began in San Francisco. Across the great plains the eastern route began in Omaha, Nebraska. They met at Promontory, Utah on May 10, 1869.

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558 Words | 3 Pages

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.

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821 Words | 4 Pages

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).

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215 Words | 1 Pages

Transportation is one of the leading factors in the growth and furthering of our society and America as a whole. From the settlers in wagons to the average people of today in fancy cars and buses. The expansion of transportation and the technology advancements we have made throughout history have improved the rate at which America is able to urbanize. In 1758 the first ever rail road was placed, however they didn 't truly take as they were only a cheap way to transport coal and was mostly a privately owned rails.

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254 Words | 2 Pages

Technology contributes to the growing economic inequality in the United States by increasing its operating expenses. During the 1890s, most American farmers experienced a drought that has affected the quality of their crops. Eventually, the value of these crops lessened, and farmers were not able to break even and earn as much as before. While the drought occurred, railroad companies became ambitious and wanted to earn more for their business. Due to the farmers’ dependency on the railroad to transport their crops, railroad companies “raised the cost of transporting farm produce” (Judis, 22).

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