Antebellum Period Transportation Improvements

owned much of the railroads. But he owned the most important railroad the only one that went

The article, “Creating the System: Railroads and the Modern Corporation”, informs us all about the development of the transcontinental railroad and how it helped drive the nation west and also transformed western North America into a economy that had many opportunities. The railroads have always interested me when it comes to this period of time. What I learned from the reading that I didn’t know before was that the Western railroads were primary carriers of grain, other agricultural produce, livestock, coal, lumber and minerals. Also seeing the prices that the farmers shipped their products for, and what they paid for the freights rates was very interesting. Overall, if the railroads wouldn’t have been built in a time when there was so little

Over time, transportation has shown to have an incredible impact on the United States. It has revealed to bring about economic and social changes in various ways. In the late eighteenth century ancient methods of traveling were still in use in America and it was often very slow. Americans were aware that if transportation advancement occurred, it would potentially increase foreign trade, increase land values as well as strengthen the American economy. In the mid 1800s it has been determined that transportation advancement has a drastic effect on our

He transformed the economy of the U.S through his business skills. It was because of his wise choices and investments that helped him rise to the top. It also made him a captain of industry because he owned every step of the process of producing steel, from creating it, to transporting it, to selling it. He didn’t keep his wealth all to himself. After selling his business, he spent the end of his life helping others and donating his money to good causes. Making positive contributions to the country is another reason why he was a captain of

Richard White’s 2011 book titled Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America is about the corrupt and mismanaged transcontinental railroads and bold arguments of the story how they came and went. In this book White describes how the construction of the transcontinental railroads across the US in the late nineteenth century would change America socially, economically, and politically. He also describes the companies that built these railroads and argues with three main points on why they were corrupt companies. First I’d like to go over the three different ways that the railroads would affect America, socially, economically, and politically.

We use the railroads for many things now days. In the civil war, railway systems were one way a force could gain the benefits of inside argumentation,, and as generals pursued this strategy the Civil war became “the first great railroad war” in Mississippi. The Mississippi railroads made it easier for things to transport in and out of Mississippi. The status of inside lines can be achieved by a violence having a central location relation to the enemy or by a force having superior lateral communication relative to the enemy. It is the importance of railroads and the interior lines that they promised that catapulted the otherwise modest town of Corinth, Mississippi into the center stage of the Civil state of War. At the meter of the Civil War, Corinth was still a young town. Corinth stands as a multi-faceted demonstration of how railroads influenced procedure and scheme in the Civil War. It had already brought together the two great armies that clashed at Shiloh. In bend the Confederates and Federals had defended and attacked it, struggling for its ascendency. The Mississippi railways made it easier, traveling wise. During the years 1880-1899 ,Civil War days in Corinth, the railroads were way more significant and important to Corinth’s people. Back in those type of days, there was hardly any transportation for people. So they took highly advantage of the railroads. However, from the years 1900-1950, Industrial Corinth, the railroads were still important but not as highly as the years 1880-1899 being more things were getting invented as in cars and trucks, mainly for transporting goods. Now in the years 1950-2015, Modern day Corinth, the railroad importance went down. In these days we have things like big 18 wheelers and over seas transportation. There was more transportation now and the 18 wheelers deliver more faster. Over the years, we’ve created things

In 19th century, Henry Clay proposed three terms to improve United States, as we called “American System”: establishing the Bank of the United States, protecting American manufacturers, and building canals and roads. For internal improvements, the construction of Erie Canal and Cumberland road played an important role in the development of the market in West and Northeast. First, Erie Canal linked the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean, and it helped western farmers to transport crops to the east much faster and more convenient. Second, Cumberland Road was the first road built by the United States government, and it accelerated the development of Ohio and Northwest area. Both of these two constructions dramatically promoted the Market Revolution

“Before the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, it cost nearly $1,000 dollars to travel across the country. After the railroad was completed, the price dropped to $150 dollars.”(History.com Staff). Prior to the railroad the average citizen of America could not afford to travel across the country cheaply. America waited for a means of transportation which would connect them from the Western to Eastern states. The responsibility of creating the railroads were left up to construction companies. Once this invention was created, traveling became quick, easy and affordable. The Transcontinental Railroad could be defined as the most significant change in America, during the 19th Century.

Factories in the North attracted former subsistence farmers because it was more efficient to buy food rather than to grow it. Systems like the Lowell System employed young women, provided them with room and board, and paid the women for their work in the factory. With the rise of numerous new American inventions, machines became more efficient and the United States had soon developed one of the best industrial economies in the world. Because of the need for effective transportation to distribute goods, new forms of transportation such as elaborate railroad and canal systems emerged. The south, on the other hand, clung to the slave-based plantation system. The economy was based largely on the production of raw materials, mainly cotton. Eli Whitney’s cotton gin allowed the cultivation of short staple cotton to bring Southern planters great success. Because the cotton industry was so lucrative, Southerners had no reason to become industrialized. However, the industrial economy of the North and the agrarian economy of the South led to a colonial relationship between the two, meaning that the South sold raw materials to the North in exchange for manufactured goods. The system put the South in an inferior position to the North, which obviously upset Southerners and led to greater tension between the two regions.

The Transcontinental Railroad was one of the most ambitious engineering projects, economic stimulants, and efficient methods of transportation in the early United States. If completed, the United States would be truly be united from east to west. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the Transcontinental Railroad helped develop new opportunities for many aspects of American life.

The transcontinental railroad was the most influential innovation of the United States, that brought a revolution of how people traveled. One year after the Civil War ended the people of the United States were looking for a way to unite their country back together. This helped mold the United States as to what it has become today. It helped people cross the country and improved how goods were transported. The man that was forming the transcontinental railroad was a merchant named Asa Whitney. He had asked the government for funding to construct one of the greatest innovation of the United States. “Two railroads, the Central Pacific starting in San Francisco and a new railroad, the Union Pacific, starting in Omaha, Nebraska, would build the rail-line.” (ushistory.org). One fear of building the railroad was the danger of the “Great American Desert” because of the lack of resources. The Central Pacific was primarily made by Chinese immigrants. The Union Pacific was primarily made up of Irish immigrants. By spring of 1866 the Central Pacific had only build 68 miles of track from Sacramento, while the Union Pacific going west from Omaha built 200 miles of track in less than a year. Therefore the Union Pacific made millions more. The next three years the railroads would continue to try and make history.

Nineteenth century America was a time of rapid growth and expansion. The movement of settlers further and further west accompanied by technological advances led to the major growth of cities and industries across the American frontier. However, it was the major innovations of transportation that had the most significant impact on the expansion of Midwestern and western America. The construction of canals and roads led to the increase in the use of stagecoaches, steamboats, and ultimately railroads.

Another great invention of transportation during this time was the train. America’s first train was invented by George Stephenson in 1822, and by 1825 the train was the first locomotive. Obviously everything at this time was made by hand, and every part of this engine had to be hammered into shape just like a horseshoe. John Thorswall, a coalmine blacksmith, was George’s assistant. The invention of George was very important in America because it allowed transportation from place to place in a quicker time. This boosted the economy by helping distribute many goods all around the country. Even letters were being delivered faster, so communication was increasing.

Cornelius Vanderbilt was the most powerful railroad baron. He earned a fortune for himself in the steamship line. He also combined the New York and Harlem and New York and Hudson estate ferry boat operations. He established a connection between New York and Albany to make Lake Shore and Michigan Southern link Buffalo with Chicago. When he died he owned and operated nearly 4500 miles of track between New York City and most of the important cities in the Midwest. He left his fortune to his son, unlike the others he did not donate to many organizations. The only contribution he gave was to support the, now, Vanderbilt College.

Cornelius Vanderbilt was a steamship and railroad tycoon. He made millions in the steamship business before turning to the promising railroad industry. He began to take capital from the steamship business to buy railroads, starting with the New York and Harlem Railroad in 1862. Vanderbilt eventually amassed over $100 million from his railroad empire and his wealth and power was virtually untouchable. He was a ruthless businessman, once saying to a competitor “You have undertaken to cheat me. I won't sue you, for the law is too slow. I will ruin you.” His New York Central rail line operated from New York to Chicago along more than 4,500 miles of track at the time of his death.