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According to Joseph Adamczyk, “That year the country was in the fourth year of a prolonged economic depression after the panic of 1873” (Adamczyk). The invention of the railroad changed everything. It was the beginning of a new era. The railroad was a new way to transport goods, materials, and people.
It was May 10th, 1869. The presidents of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroad lines met at Promontory, Utah to declare the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. Spanning over 9,000 miles of track and built almost entirely by hand in just 6 years, the railroad was like nothing the nation had ever seen before. Not long after the railroad was completed, changes began rippling across the country. Economic, political, and social policies began to shift and transform.
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.
It began the task of constructing a transcontinental railroad that would link the United States from the East Coast to the West Coast. "In the meantime, construction of several important railroads is being carried forward with energy. " People would not have to travel months in long wagon trains on a trip to the west. The transcontinental railroad was a significant development and it improved transportation, people could travel in a faster, safer, and cheaper way by train. Mail, supplies, trade goods, and other additional things could be shipped across the country and arrive in just a few days.
People used the railroad to get around and go from place to place and to travel. Companies used the railroad to get their products
It would be harder to get from place to place if there was never the Transcontinental Railroad, which surely would have influenced the ideas of other methods of transportation, like cars and planes. One of the most important points from Document F quotes: “Had it not been for these captains of industry, the free world might have lost the First World War and most certainly have lost the second.” They changed and protected the U.S. and the right of freedom with their work, and that’s
The impact of railroads on Iowa and the United States was profound. They helped to spur economic growth in the state. Railroads made it easier and cheaper to transport goods across the country, which in turn made
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.
Before railroads, transportation was slow and relied on things like wagons and canals. But railroads are way faster and more efficient. They could carry a lot more stuff and go way farther in a shorter time. This made it possible to transport raw materials, like coal and iron, to factories where they were needed. It also makes it easier to ship finished products to markets across the country.
The transcontinental railroad revolutionized the nation, it was the first railroad to stretch across the United States. It began in 1863 and kept changing transportation and many other areas of life in America long after. The railroad was sometimes called the technological equivalent of manifest destiny. Three of the largest areas that it affected were transportation, industry expansion, and the economy. Transportation was widely influenced by the railroad mainly because of the train’s efficiency.
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.
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 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).
First, it was cheap for manufacturers to send materials and products. This helped industrial growth. Secondly, it boosted the economy because it provided thousands of jobs for both miners and railroad workers. Furthermore, it allowed other industries like the agricultural and fishing, to transport goods to cities that were farther away. Lastly, the railroad boom made it easier for people living out in the country to take inner city jobs.
