Railroads In The United States

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

Prompt: In what ways did developments in transportation bring about economic and social change in the United States in the period 1820-1860?

Since the beginning of recorded history, mankind has been caught in the middle of being

Can you imagine living in a car for six months? If not then try to imagine how hard it would be to be living in a wagon thats always moving. Everyone having to pitch in by either collecting firewood, walking beside the wagon to make the load lighter for the horses, or taking care of seven or eight children, the exhuastion knocking you out every night. Then when you finally get to the land you travelled so far to get a piece of, there is more work then thought. The railroads changed all of that worry and hard labor. On September 8th, 1883 the railroad came to Washington State making almost everything alot easier. The railroads had a major influence on washintons development. The railroad

The Embargo Act of 1807, under President Thomas Jefferson caused the states, in the Northern and Southern regions of the Untied States, to form an interrelationship for economic self-reliance, from Great Britain. Although the Embargo Act was unsuccessful in gaining economic independence, the act created the necessity of a fast transportation system that would connect raw materials to manufacturers. The dawn of steel transportation railroads in the late 19th century, pushed military advantages, economic expansion, the start of private business relationship with the federal government and an industrialized new American way of life in the ambition of building a modern industrialized America.

“If any act symbolized the taming of the Northwest frontier, it was the driving of the final spike to complete the nation’s first transcontinental railroad.”1 The first railroad west of the Mississippi River was opened on December 23, 1852. Five miles long, the track ran from St. Louis to Cheltanham, Missouri. Twenty-five years prior, there were no railroads in the United States; twenty-five years later, railroads joined the east and west coasts from New York to San Francisco.2

The Big Four were the men known in building the Central Pacific Railroad, the western portion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in the United States. The four men were Leland Stanford who was the President, Collis P. Huntington who was the Vice President, Mark Hopkins who was the Treasurer, and Charles Crocker who was the Construction Supervisor.

“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.

Thus, the Union Civil War effort promoted the development of an autonomous capital market by first, encouraging a repatriation of securities from Europe and a subsequent domestic funding in the war effort; second by forcing the nation off the gold standard and, in that way, insulating the financial system from the influence of foreign markets; and, last, abetting the emergence of a new class of financiers who, upon the withdrawal of the Treasury from the capital market in the post war period, moved easily into a dominant position in the coordination of financing industrial

The Union Pacific Railroad was to construct the transcontinental railroad that was substantially funded by the government. Some of the officers and directors decided to make an immediate profit by fraud. The scandal was called the Credit Mobilier of America. In Thomas Durant’s eyes, the Union Pacific was an easy opportunity to make lots of money. Thomas Durant was the executive of the Union Pacific. The method was to have the Credit Mobilier bill the Union Pacific for the cost of making the railroad. Since there was no market value on the items, the United Pacific paid a lot more money than what the Credit Mobilier spent. So in other words the Credit Mobilier valued the materials at a higher amount than they were worth. In 1867, Congressmen

As I will discuss, in my research paper, how the progressivist policies ended the monopoly of the American railroad system, my thesis statement is “Since the late nineteenth century, progressive policies provided laws to regulate the railroad system and alternative means of transport in order to break this monopoly.” I plan to write about how government policies, such as the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission and Acts such as the Elkins Act (1903) and Hepburn Act (1906), made this change possible. Furthermore, topics such as the construction of national highways, waterways, and the Panama canal will each be discussed in a paragraph as an alternative to the railroad system. In conclusion, the thesis shows how progressive policies

Thus when the Meiji’s took power in Japan they began the rapid industrialization of this reclusive nation. While the United States government participated rather little in the industrial growth of their nation’s industries, Japan’s government decided to take control of their industries. This would ultimately lead to failure and a loss of a large sum of the governments money. Japanese government tried to model their industrialization after the successful western nations like the United States, Great Britain and Germany. To achieve this goal the government imported people, ideas and machines from these nations just like how the Kobusho ( the Ministry of Industry) in 1876 during the construction of the railroad in Japan employed approximately one hundred British and technicians to lead their industrialization. The importing of these ideas was helpful for the improvement of the industrialization of the nation because it educated the Japanese workers so they could understand the machinery and be able to create their own means of production. However, this would not help the government’s control over the industry because it was not until private industries took over industrialization that the workers could really expose

The young Meiji government worked hard to balance production for domestic use as well as for export. Protection for native industries was a prime consideration, but the new internationalists understood the necessity for an accelerated industrial revolution in Japan. They were quick to adopt western methods in heavy industries and in the processing of textiles. The foundations for some of the great fortunes of Japan were laid in the early Meiji period, when the government, after nationalising and developing such industries as shipbuilding, mining, railroads, electricity and silk

With the creation of the informal empire the Japanese started exporting tons of goods for China’s vast population and importing raw materials and resources which were valuable for the Japanese Empire and its expansion. They also gained rights over the Manchuria Railways and different cotton mills. Japan benefitted more from the trade in China that the other foreigners there because of the proximity of the two so the “shipping costs were lower for Japanese manufacturers than for goods shipped from the West” (Duus et al., 1989, p.xiii).

Japan was among the first Asian civilizations to embrace innovation with open arms. Though their respect for traditions did not waiver, they were (minus the ruling caste) open to change and advancements in technology. Asian cultures have, for the entirety of history, had more advancements in technology and have placed a higher value on education than almost any other culture around the world. It is no surprise that when the Japanese found out about the railroad system, that they would want to construct their own railways to enhance