Industrial Revolution Dbq

The Industrial Revolution was a period that took place from the 18th to 19th centuries by which society was moving towards a more urban society than an agrarian one. During the revolution ideas of establishing a mass economic country were huge goals for America. The 1860 through 1870s were known as the years of westward expansion. The California Gold rush of 1849 in San Francisco and the discovery of silver in Nevada promised Americans economic wealth. Although there were still economic instabilities and panics in America from 1860 through 1870, the construction of the transcontinental railroad did mark a turning point in the American Economy through the support given to monopolies and the regulation of business by the federal government. Therefore, the construction of the transcontinental railroad did mark an increase of markets and set the foundation of trade and commerce over long distances in American economy.

In the South the economic revenue generated was primarily produced the slave economy and the growth of cotton. The lack of industrial development in the southern parts of the United States was not initially a problem, however the economy generated from slaves was not enough to support the cost of war. The collapse of the South was a panic and instability once the Union was once restored. One way to help reestablish the economy in America was through the approval of the Pacific Railway Act, which would provide jobs both on the railways and in the factories to build steel tracks and other tools for the locomotives. Another economic problem that occurred with the establishment of the transcontinental railway was over speculation and overbuilding by which the money invested was lost due to there being excess