Frederick County's Economy

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?

Bringing money to the community to build better housing, military, etc. transporting of goods also gave jobs. This helped the economy, and overall wellth of the community. Using the river as transportation could not only transport goods, but also explorers so the country could gain more land. With these advantages there also came many disadvantages.

Second, the development of new public transit systems, was important in shaping the design of our cities and the growth of our cities by enabling people to move further away from the inner city. Early on, large cities didn’t really have public transportation. Their main source of transportation were horse drawn wagons and walking. In conclusion, most people lived near on in the downtown area, where most of the working establishments were located. Because of this, it made big cites crowed and congested. With the breakthrough of the “el”, electric streetcars, and subways, around 1867, cities began expand more. Those who were fortunate enough to move out of the dirty cities and into better neighborhoods surrounded outside the city, did so. The new transit systems in most cities allowed people to escape the chaos of urban life and provided potential for growth of our cities.

Transportation in the United States has changed dramatically in the past few hundred years, from dirt roads, to canals, to railroads, and back to roads to again. Improvements in transportation between the years 1820 and 1860 allowed for almost all of America to be accessible which caused the US economy to explode. Transportation turned the U.S. into a flourishing economy and caused a large increase in sectionalism, industrialization, and expansion.

We grew domestically, but we were also able to supply the market with new materials. A 2014 study represents major imports and exports. The data portrayed by Document F, suggests 329 million tons of exports and 171 million tons of imports. As manufacturing increased, railroads were an opportunity to transport these materials more efficiently. By exporting goods by railroad, we were able to share materials found in America with countries across the world. Farmers also benefited from railroads because they could could ship raw materials at a low

Before the railroad was made, the journey to move products and people was long and expensive. Paying 5 dollars and 31 cents to move your product was an expensive form of transport, so when the railroad came around paying for shipping was a much easier task. In document E it makes the point clear that shipping when the railroad was made was less than a tenth of the cost of traveling by wagon. Because the railroad cut down on the cost of shipping, more people were able to get their product out all across the country and increasing commerce between

Railroads were a major part of Northern and even Southern economies. Railroads, which were expanded on 1860, were used to transport crop productions from the south the North. Cotton, Indigo, tobacco, corn and more were sold to Northern markets. Since the South weren’t fully ready or capable to imitate a Northern way of income, they heavily relied on this way of income. In the North, Chicago was seen as the railroad capital. Most goods were sent through this city and Chicago became extremely wealthy later on in

In the early 19th century the transportation of goods between the east and west was expensive and time consuming. The normal way of transportation before the canal, was by horse drawn carriages. Then the bold idea of the Erie Canal was proposed to ease the tiring commute. The Erie canal was intentionally built to open the country west of the Appalachian Mountains to settlers. The canal would also provide a safe, cheaper way for produce to be carried to various markets. The canal then became the fastest way

The growth of transportation was vital to the expansion of the Texas economy because , good transportation system would develop Texas quickly. Farmers and merchants would sell their goods and market it faster, if they have railroads. Railroads were quicker and cheaper. People believed that railroads would help cotton farmers, ranches, and businesses do better.

Immigrants came flooding into the United States in hope of finding work. However, the canal did not attract just immigrants; it also brought visitors and tourists. Bringing in a sea of people, America was soon growing economically and nationally. “I have no doubt it is correct; for that I know was my early opinion, and many, I dare say still think with me that N. York has anticipated by a full century the ordinary progress of improvement.” More cities were established in the Midwest. Because the canal was such an attraction for people all over the world, the United States began to function and expand on using ships and relying on ships to transfer products to other parts in America.

Transportation began to fuel the American economy during the Market Revolution by adding many different ways to transport goods and to get around the country. These roads were made of mud, which happened to be quite an issue during the different seasons. In the spring,all roads turned to mud, in the summer all roads were dust and in the winter these roads were snow and ice which made it difficult to travel on. The national road was made and was the only road funded by the national government, all of the other roads were funded by private investors. The national road opened up travel through the East and the West, which began to help foster a national community. Canals were starting to expand from not only running North and South, but creating ways to get East and West as well.The farmers began an eight year long project, which was taken over by Irish immigrants and they created the Erie

This made it very hard for the individual states to come up with the money. Usually private investors took care of this issue (Roark, 260). Canals were another way for an increase in transportation. They would connect cities, such as the Erie Canal, which covered the area between Albany and Buffalo and connecting New York City to the area of the Great Lakes (Roark, 261). Railroads also came into the picture with the first railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio in 1829 (Roark, 262).

The canal and railroad systems, which grew up in the North, facilitated a much larger volume of trade and manufacturing while reducing costs a great deal. Great cities sprang up throughout the North and Northwest, bolstered by the improvement in transportation.

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.