Transcontinental Railroad Dbq Essay

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

Business growth on both sides of the country was expedited by a new form of cheap distribution into profitable, expanding markets. Easy transportation facilitated the concept of business travel and expansion on an unprecedented scale. However, some of the largest impacts of the Transcontinental Railroad can be seen through the cross­country exchange of ideas. Before the railroad existed, the only fast exchange of information was written through the pony express. The Transcontinental Railroad created an outlet of communicating new ideas and information in person. A smooth and swift cross­country exchange of people and ideas not only made America more infrastructurally sophisticated ­­ it acted as a foundation for the Western United States to grow from very little to the political, social, economic, and technological center that it is today.

The next way the transcontinental railroads would change America is economically. These railroads would not only be a faster way to travel but you would also know the exact price to get from one place to another. Even though the price of a ticket wasn’t super cheap by any means, it would be all you have to pay. They would also change America economically because the shipping market rates were decreased because there was more transportation with the

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

With the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad, it boosted the US economy, opened rich farmland to people, and reduced shipping and transportation time. Although the railroad was a large investment for the US it made up for

The Transcontinental Railroad was a technological breakthrough that managed to make the USA feel smaller to travelers. Railroad systems had been in place decades before the transcontinental railroad had been constructed. However, these systems were not in synch as there were many different railroad companies and even more laws in place from state to state. This was in part due to the civil war, during this period both governments wanted better transportation of goods and troops. This caused many factors like track gauge (spacings of the rails) lengths to differ vastly. These differences in factors caused the slowing of transportation as, many of the times, people and goods being transported had to move trains where these railways met up. Also, many railways would not intersect towns, causing them to board trains on the other side of town. The Transcontinental Railroad was one of the stepping stones towards standardization as these factors were enforced by law for uniformity, and towns began to be built around these railways. This allowed people to travel from the eastern coast to the western coast without having to swap railways many times and would bring people and their ideas closer together, and, most importantly, caused the massive increase in western expansion. The transcontinental railroad was brought forth due to the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862, Chinese laborers, and western migration allowing for decreased travel times, bulk movement of resources and products, and

The final way the transcontinental railroad changed the US was that it changed the different types of people that were in the US. In Document I, it talks about the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. This did not allow the Chinese to immigrate to the United States for a 10 year span after they helped to build the railroad. The railroad made people want to come to the United States to be able to go to the west. After this the government did not allow anyone to come so then the ethnic groups changed from what it could have been if the government had allowed people to come in that 10 year

Theodore Roosevelt once said, "It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things." This was a theme in business in the late 1800's. The early American economy was made up of small markets, centered around big cities. The immense expansion of the railroads in the late 1800s changed this, tying the country together into one national market, where products could be shipped across the country. Railroads also provided a massive development in economic growth because they provided such a massive market for goods and opportunity for distribution for products such as steel, lumber, and other vital goods. With the help of railroads, the United States developed a rapid expansion of the

Theodore Roosevelt once said, "It is only through labor and painful effort, by grim energy and resolute courage, that we move on to better things."1 This was a theme in business in the late 1800's. The early American economy was made up of small markets, centered around big cities. The immense expansion of the railroads in the late 1800s changed this, tying the country together into one national market, where products could be shipped across the country. Railroads also provided a massive development in economic growth because they provided such a massive market for goods and opportunity for distribution for products such as steel, lumber, and other vital goods. With the help of railroads, the United States developed a rapid expansion of the

As America was rapidly industrializing, the products that were being mass-produced were in demand all over the nation. In order to get food, supplies and raw materials to the industrial centers that needed them, it was crucial that the speed of transportation was increased. Multiple types of transportation came forth in early 1800’s including roads, canals, steamboats and railroads which would all contribute to the industrialization of America. This time period would come to be known as the “Transportation Revolution” of America. (Ochoa 2). In 1815, farmers were struggling to keep up with the high cost of transportation of their goods. Near the end of the Transportation Revolution in 1850, transportation cuts had been cut by ninety-five

Constructing the first transcontinental railroad in the United States of America was arguably our country's crowning achievement for engineering ingenuity and determination in the 19th century. The railroad was a herculean of a task that required extensive proper prior planning, muscle, blood and tears that has rarely ever been seen before or to this day. In addition to the brains behind the operation and the labor force that drove this project to completion, the railroad companies (Central Pacific and Union Pacific R.R.) responsible wouldn’t have even gotten beyond the first mile without the political representatives that lobbied on their behalf in front of Congress. The man by the name Judah was the sole individual that garnered government backing behind Central Pacific.

Many of these modes couldn't accommodate the "Long distances and slow transportation hampered contact between eastern and western commercial centers."(Jones). People would have to travel countless days and night just to make a profit or to start a new life. These ways were dangerous to travel by and so the Transcontinental Railroad created a more safer and efficient way for people to get to the places that they wanted to go. There were other benefits that came with the railroad. For one, the country could create many fortunes that "would be made from this first transcontinental railroad and the other routes that soon followed."(Congress). The proposal of more annual income from sales piqued many interests. In fact the proposition for the idea came from the "New York City dry-goods merchant Asa Whitney"(Transcontinental). Eventually companies could rack in money from both ends of the country. Eventually, the many dollars that were spent on countless days of work could be replenish and many businesses could make a living by moving their products around. It was soon that people were making millions just from shipping and "By 1880 more than $50 million worth of freight was transported annually from the East Coast to the West Coast along the transcontinental line."(Transcontinental). Changes were happening and people were making fortunes off of what had been made. As

By this time we saw on the map that many American cities in the east coast became increasingly larger, interconnected and agriculture in these areas increased substansely. With the expansion of America to the west and the creation of an increasing number of interconnected railways the opportunity for growth skyrocketed. By 1890 San Francisco alone increased its figures in imports from $7.4 million dollars in 1860 to $49 million dollars (Henretta, Edwards, Self, 476). The railroad also provided many jobs to Americans in a time when the country was not doing so well and allowed many Americans to settle homesteads away from the eastern coast. It did not just impact trade in the United States though, goods from Asia and other continents could now be shipped from the west coast across America and within the first 10 years $50 million in goods was shipped from coast to coast (Transcontinental Railroad,

With the fast pace America was growing in the 18th century there was a need to be able to travel a long distance. It took almost six months and cost nearly $1,000 to travel between California and New York at the time, thats worth to about $25,000 present time. After the transcontinental Railroad was established, it cost $150 and took one week to travel. This created a nationwide network that united the new nation of America that replaced decades of using horse powered wagons to travel. Furthermore, it allowed the transportation of larger quantities of raw material or good over a great distance in a short time. This made it possible to get a wider verity of goods for people to obtain. Thus, created a two-fold effect on products that permitted

The railroad system development was a major contribution to items being sold nationally. Merchandise went from being ordered and delivered locally to mail orders coming in and merchandise being delivered