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Compromise Of 1877 Dbq Essay

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The American economy boomed to a greater extent during the period of 1865-1900 due to transportation developments that were so modernistic, we still use them today to great effect. Along with faster transportation methods, this called for an increase in production rate, quickly leading to an industrial revolution. America had recently gotten out of its civil war, and with the compromise of 1877 came the end of the failed attempt at reconstruction. The only reason transportation developments were successful was because goods and people needed transporting for several various reasons. Among these reasons were a few that were quite generalized among the population such as manifest destiny, (the need to expand the frontier) Irish and German …show more content…

This would eventually lead to a countywide railroad monopoly led by Cornelius Vanderbilt. Because of his immense monopoly, he was regarded as one of the most powerful men of all time.

Large scale immigration caused a loss of American jobs in big cities, particularly in the manufacturing business, largely because the immigrants were willing to work for less due to their immense lack of money. This caused a countywide nativist movement (attacking immigrants), which was largely a failure. This caused dirt poor New Englanders to move west in hopes of finding a new, better life, perhaps in farming. This made the transcontinental railroad rich, but there were alternative means of transportation to refer to. The steamboat was an invention that reduced manual labor aboard ships by a large extent, and were also faster than the previous sail ships. Not only were these good at transporting goods, they could also transport people via river and ocean quite effectively. Larger versions were produced for trans-oceanic voyages. The transcontinental railroad did the same thing, but faster, and on land. The refrigerator car was especially useful because you could pack meat in Chicago, and send it to California without it spoiling. This quick transportation of goods quickly renovated …show more content…

Monopolies are quite dangerous economically, and are usually broken up by the federal government, with only two exceptions- electricity, and gas. These are modern examples. A monopoly is the economic term for when a company that makes a product has no competition, and can raise the prices as high as they want. For example, the most obvious and powerful monopoly of the industrial revolution was the railroad monopoly. They made money quite quickly as a shipping company, and destroyed any and all competition as the only transcontinental railroad at the time. It’s leader, Cornelius Vanderbilt came to be considered one of the most powerful people of all time, due to his control over who he shipped for.

One type of transportation that remained constant throughout history was canal systems. One of the most prominent was the Erie Canal. This canal connected Lake Erie to the St. Louis River, to the Atlantic Ocean. Steamships could travel both ways through this canal, for a fare of course. Steamships from the Great Lakes could then take goods from that region and transport them on a global scale, doing nothing but helping the economy

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