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
By the 1860’s railways were being hailed as an answer to economic problems. Those people in the Maritimes who supported Confederation argued that a transcontinental railway would improve among the colonies and would also help to unify the country. Goods could be moved much
The construct of the Transcontinental railroad began in 1863 and ended in 1869. After it was complete people used it very much to travel across the country and people still it today to travel to places. People offend only believe the railroad was one of the most amazing that happen to our country and it only caused great things to happen. However, this is not all true. The railroad did cause great things like it helped increase westward expansion in the United States of America but it also caused a lot of horrible things like causing the removal of many Native American tribes in the west. So, after the Transcontinental Railroad was completed, there were positives effect but also negative effects that occur in the US.
The transcontinental railroad was starting to be built in 1863 by two main companies, the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific. In the 1800’s the railroad was seen as one of the best things and also one of the worst things that took place in the US. The railroad brought many negative effects westward for the Native Americans and Chinese, but had many positive effects for Americans in the US. Some of these positive and negatives came from events like The Great Plains, Buffalo, Manifest Destiny, and Railroad Surveyors. This essay will focus on how railroad expanding westward created more positive opportunities for the Americans to start up new lives for themselves. But it will also focus on how the Americans and the railroad expanding westward took over the Natives Americans lives and left them with little to no land to survive with. Many other obstacles and situation also came along with the Americans as they tried to build up the railroad for the people of the US.
In the late 1800, conflicts arose from farmers, workers, and railroad companies. These issues were resolved by significant battles among them, but never had an affect on the railroads. The railroads charged an extraordinary amount of money for transportation of products. This made farmers extremely outraged, and made them use their money more wisely than spend it on the transportation of their products. The railroad companies misused their money given by the government to gain profit of off land grants. The competition led to workers going on strike for their budgets being cut. These concepts show that railroads, in their wasteful competition, exploited farmers and workers because of budget cuts, transportation of products, and rates.(Introduction, Timeline)
The third, and last, source is an essay called “Impact of Railroads in Mexico and India” written by Nick Cannon as a part of his series, “Edges of Empire”. The purpose of this essay was to compare and contrast what was happening economically in both Mexico and India. It showed their similarities and differences in a way where each country had their own little section as to what specifically happened in that country. The value of this article is the fact that although it is comparing Mexico to India, there is a lot of information that shows just how advanced the railroads made Mexico in comparison to another country, in this case India. There were definitely a big limitation. Since there was comparing and contrasting in the whole essay, it was difficult to understand what the author was trying to say. It seemed as though the essay was a bit rushed due to the fact that the author was trying to give information about both countries.
Have you ever seen a railroad? Well, there was a time when railroads were desperately needed. This was the time of the Transcontinental Railroad. In my paper I will explain the purpose of the railroad, challenges the workers faced, and the results of the finished railroad.
British imperialism had a negative impact on the economy of india because the British made trade links and because of train tracks that were made for their own benefit. “Both nations benefited from the trade links that were firmly established in the 17th century” (Lalvani). Hand woven fabric exports from bergal to britain fell by half in a 20 year time period (Document 3). This shows that indians did not benefit because the british just sold their fabrics and made people lose jobs because of it. The British built 10,000 miles of railroad track and 136,000 bridges (Lalvani). The railroads, however, were used to extract the crops of india and forced indians to be adulterated (Shaw) goods from england. They might have built the railroads but they
In 1860, the United States had more railroad track than the rest of the world combined. Shipping freight by rail became much more practical and affordable, easily beating out the use of steamboats. The railroad directly led to the increase of urban centers. Chicago, for example, virtually quadrupled its population during the 1850’s. By the 1880’s, there were at least 93, 267 miles of rail that stretched across the plains and just ten years later, there were 163,597 miles of rail. By 1862, Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Act, which gave the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroads responsibility for building the transcontinental railroad. Congress also granted both railroads lands and millions of dollars of government loans. May 10, 1869, after six long years of hard intensive labor, the tracks of the two railroads finally met at
The British laid down 10,000 miles of railroad track and built 136,000 bridges over the course of its imperial rule. Dr. Lalvani claims that this was to unify India and to build a stronger economy by providing Indians with railroad jobs. In reality, the British had little intention to unify India and improve it for its people, they built railroads and bridges to export India’s natural wealth and resources to Britain, leaving parts of India a barren wasteland (Doc #3&4). As for the railroad jobs, some Indians did get jobs laying down and repairing railroad tracks, but many more Indians were unemployed because the British used these railroads to sell cheap, poorly made British textiles (Gandhi). Though the British built roads and bridges that would eventually help India, their main purpose was to boost the British economy and cripple the Indians’. During colonial rule, the British forced Indians to grow cash crops such as indigo and cotton. Dr. Lalvani says that this caused the British East India Company to thrive and make fortunes. Cash crops can make people rich, but they can cause havoc on the environment. Cash crops cause desertification because many cash crops take most of the nutrients from the soil. Desertification prevents substance crops from growing (Doc #6). Though destructive, these crops do cause fortune
The growing industry of travel in the United States can be somewhat attributed to the massive birth of railroads in the 18th century. Incredibly fast movement of both goods and people along rails has changed how business plan expansion, where people live, how ideas and knowledge move around the continent, as well as how people travel for pleasure. This paper details the development of the locomotive and railroad over the 18th century, describes the societal and economic impact of railroads, and lists the desires reflected within the United States that led to the advent of railroads.
Railroads became extremely popular in America in the 1800’s. The railroad industry itself began to boom; it was supported by its reputation for speed and efficiency. But, along with the booming industry of railroads came the strong debate that
The Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) is commonly argued to be the most important transportation route in Canadian history, but most do not know the substantial benefits it provided. More specifically, it provided benefits to farmers, financiers, and consumers. The financiers of the railway were the group of people that the railway benefitted the most, mainly because of the significant amount of use it received in the 19th century.
The British policies required India to produce raw materials for means of British production and to buy British merchandise. The British forbid competition between India and Britain. After the railroad network was set up, India became even more valuable to Britain. The railroads transported raw materials from the inner lands to the trading ports, in a rotating sequence.
Often, when people think of the functions of trains, they simply view them as modes of transportation. In