New Frontier Philosophy

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

frightened by the unknown and having an intense desire to explore and conquer it. The magnetic draws of potential land, wealth, and happiness have been perpetually found in juxtaposition against the possibilities of exotic foes, disease, and ultimate death. The concept of the desire to command the unknown frontier is clearly seen in mid­nineteenth century America, and has been revered as a foundational pillar of American spirit. The westward expansion of early America was influenced by a multitude of factors and is known in history as a crucial base to the growth of the political and economic superpower known of today

century. These changes led to the opportunity for Americans to own land. The new settlements

In the beginning the frontier was Atlantic coast. The frontier was Europe in some sort of real sense. While moving towards the west the frontier became more American. Form the frontier being advanced it meant a steady movement away from any influence from Europe, a constant growth of independence in American lines. The only way to study the frontier’s advance, the men who were growing up in the conditions, and the economic, and social results of it, is really the study of American part of our

Through the development of a transcontinental railroad system, the west was settled and many American dreams were in reach.

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.

There were acts passed during the Gilded Age that promoted Westward expansion, and, as a result, allowed for businesses to rise to prominence. The Morrill Grants, notably in 1890, established many agricultural and vocational colleges in the United States to promote more industry supplemented with an educated workforce to grow in the sparsely populated West. (Westward expansion.) The Homestead Act also was a source of motivation for many aspiring wealth-seekers to settle West. (Homestead Act.) The settlement of the West allowed for the rise of the railroad industry, both private and government-operated, which was one of the stepping stones in the steep quest for industry. Railroads allowed for easy access and shipment of raw materials from one edge of the country to another. Also in support of Westward Expansion was Frederick Jackson Turner, who promoted Westward settlement in his Frontier Thesis. In this thesis, he claims that the West is America’s ultimate frontier, and stressed the process of settling the frontier. (Turner Thesis.) Westward expansion and the settlement of the frontier saw the rise of the railroad industry and American business, and also allowed for certain entrepreneurs throughout the country to take advantage of their opportunity, despite causing harm to many small businesses that were practicing fair business methods. (Ida

In 1893, at the 400th anniversary of the appearance of Columbus in the Americas celebrated in Chicago , Frederick Jackson Turner presented an academic paper entitled, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” In this essay, Turner proposes that, “The existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward explain American development.” The group dynamic that Turner champions is the farmer. More directly it is white, male farmers. While the expansion of the west by white male farmers was a factor in the development of America, it is not the only explanation for this progression. Turner fails to incorporate all of the demographics present during this expansion which were essential to the evolution of America.

By the middle of the 19th century, the Industrial Revolution was changing the face and culture of the United States. Demand for raw materials and new inventions was increasing. From 1800-1850, territories claimed by the United States had grown to stretch from the East Coast to the West Coast. The spirit of “Manifest Destiny”, the California Gold Rush, and the promise of rich new land, ripe with raw materials and opportunity drew settlers ever westward. Following the invention of the steam engine, trains were becoming very important to the expansion of civilization and its infrastructure. Trains and the railroads they ran on soon became the lifeblood of industrialized economic development across the country. Public and private partnerships were formed with railroad companies to provide them with vast amounts of investment funding. Within a few decades, the railroad companies and their transcontinental railroads ushered in the Gilded Age and changed American society forever.

Additionally, because of America’s “errand,” there was a cultural and physical transformation of the natural terrain. Land clearing, creation of railroads, cultivating of monocultures, and centralized capital all increased to promote the America’s economic prosperity. They did not want the land to go to waste.

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 American frontier was a vast area of free land. The dividing line of the frontier was a boundary line that was continuously moving farther and farther west with each generation. It’s the frontier, and subsequently its boundaries, that determined the path of history more than other events. As the expansion of the west continued the attractions and conveniences of things were farther apart, yet the reward of moving westward reaped its benefits in the ways that each and every person had a chance to make their future and had the west as a blank canvas..

In the year of 1890 the Bureau of the Census proclaimed that the frontier was officially closed. For many people finding out that the Golden West was no longer an achievable dream it put many people into a state of depression. A historian of this time named Frederick Jackson Turner, about how important the Frontier was in American history, it was published in the year of 1894 under the title of “The Significance of the Frontier in American History” (282). His argument was that the expansion of the New World was much different from the development of the Old World because “the existence of an area of free land, its continuous recession, and the advance of American settlement westward” (282). Also that the frontier made it possible of the

(Ganster/Lorey 37) As the value of resources grew so did the number of U.S. investors. Ganster and Lorey assert that “U.S. investors owned several million acres of land… [and] they controlled the larges mining enterprises in the state [Sonora]”. (Ganster/Lorey 40) Therefore, the completion of the railroad system was an imperative step to the early economic development of Mexico.