The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad played a significant role in the Civil War. It contributed to the victory of the North, and the end of slavery. This is important because it provided freedom to the African Americans. If the south would have won, it would have changed history dramatically. As Donald McCraig once said, "The Civil War has a tremendous moral and emotional force" (Wise Old Sayings 1). The B&O Railroad had a role in the civil war because it supported the north, connected locations, created conflict, carried supplies, and employed citizens. At the beginning of the Civil War, the north and south equally claimed the railroad. The President of the railroad was John Garrett, born in Virginia. He openly claimed many Southerners as friends. Within a short period of time, he realized that many commercial and financial ties laid in the North. He then fully supported Abraham Lincoln and stayed with the Union. As the person head of the railroad, he continually supported the north. In many situations, he even helped to work out details for the movement of troops. He had the ability to separate personal …show more content…
In the map below, retrieved from Wikipedia, this is illustrated. This connection route was over 10,000 miles long, it stretched over 13 states. Its size was extremely important for its time, it was one of the first. It had 75 locomotives, 2000 freight cars, and 100 passenger carts. It offered more than $30 million in assets. By connecting locations, it had many things to offer early America. Before, their only mean of transportation was by horse and buggy. Their transportation industry was rapidly growing. Each state was anxious to take advantage of the latest productivity and advancement. The B&O carried supplies that were essential to winning the war. It transported weapons, ammunition, food, clothing, coal, horses, cattle baggage, and
Additionally, C&O provided access to the Atlantic Ocean and Appalachian Mountains. With this direct connection, C&O was able to transport cargo not just domestically but also provided access to ports allowing its cargo to be exported internationally. This allowed Chesapeake and Ohio to have a foot in both domestic and international markets
Throughout the Civil War, as well as the 1860’s as a whole, it was evident that United States was sparsely growing, in industrial goods, the production of agriculture, and the spread of settlements. At this time, the United State’s population was more than double than its previous period. At this time the United states population was Approximately 31,443,321 million citizens (Joseph C. G. Kennedy, The Eight Census; 1864). In this time period we see most of the United State’s economical growth coming from the Midwest as well as the Northeast. As for the South, they remained rather agricultural, due to the desire of one of the biggest crops to ever support the United States, Cotton.
Underground Railroad Since the year of 1619, when a Dutch ship brought the first African slaves into the United States, slavery thrived. In states like Mississippi, over fifty percent of the population owned slaves. As retaliation, during the year of 1850, the Underground Railroad was created, with the sole purpose of liberating the slaves in captivity (History.com Staff). To disagree with slavery was widely looked down upon. Laws were put in place like the Fugitive slave acts to specifically arrest those who assisted the slaves, along with the slaves themselves (Levi Coffin).
Even though the railroad existed before the great division between the north and the south and it mainly contributed in providing goods for both sides, the invention of the railroad greatly contributed to the civil war. The first railroad created in the US was in 1827 and their major role was to transport goods from the North to the South and back. As slaves became more abundant in the South and less present in the North a war began on the idea of slavery. The railroad caused this Civil War by bringing goods to only one side and keeping their advantage. It went from having different point of views to all out battles that started with starvation and isolation, but led to death and separation.
The civil war, starting in 1861, lasted 4 years. Afterwards, reconstruction in the south begun, but 15 years later, 1880, marked the end of reconstruction altogether, leaving both sides effected. Between the years 1860 and 1880, the civil war and its aftermath transformed relationships and progress in America. The Union tried to enforce a positive integration for the African Americans but faced resistance from the South.
In the midst of the 1800s, as individuals traveled to California in search of a fortune because of the Gold Rush and with the country teetered on the brink of war, three certain businessmen, William H. Russell, William B. Waddell, and Alexander Majors, saw an opportunity that would help them and also for the people. They thought of a way that could keep the West and the East to at least stay in contact between all the mist of the rumor of war. Their idea was some way for better and a faster way to have communication between the west and the east. by land. They found out how they could do this by the thought of the Pony Express.
Transcontinential Railroad had a huge impact on the Native Ameriacans, Society and the Environment. Here is one example of how the Native Americans were impacted: Some of the hardships they faced were very little food, only ate once during their working hours. They worked long hours for very little money, and they had ages 10 and up working. Transcontinential Railroad helped the society grow with the transportation it provided. It replaced wagon trains of previous decades which became usless.
" Railroads in the Civil War." National Defense Transportation Journal, vol. 21, no. 2, 1965, pp. 42-48. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/44097985.
Americans searched for ways to improve communication and travel across the country.” (Page 10 Textbook) As this quote shows, many Americans needed something that could carry their messages and themselves. It was very expensive to travel across the country before the Transcontinental Railroad. History.com states, “Before the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, it cost nearly 1,000 dollars to travel across the country.
The Underground Railroad caused many conflicts between the North and the South, the Southern states were resenting the north because the North was against slavery all together and thought that the south had no right to kidnap the slaves that escaped to Free states and bring them back to the south to be enslaved again. In some cases, free blacks would get kidnapped and taken for slavery because the bounty hunters couldn’t find the escaped
The Civil War The Civil War was the deadliest war in American history with over 600000 American deaths reported. This war was fought to keep the Confederate States from leaving the Union. The Union won because they had a telegraph system and had more resources. The effect of the Union victory has had a large impact on society.
Because of the rapid settlement of the western land in the 1850s, Congress wanted to enforce a transcontinental railroad to replace America’s current weak transportation system—horse-drawn carriages were still used and soldiers often had to walk. But due to the constant competition between the Northern members and the Southern
They shaped the Civil War by having the Emancipation Proclamation, the fourteenth amendment, and the fifteenth amendment. The consequences would be that at first the newly freed slaves wouldn’t have a place to go, because they never had no money and they didn’t have all their rights yet. The Emancipation Proclamation helped the slaves because they should be free. The Emancipation never really freed any
The railroads were located in Corinth, which the Union and Confederate armies fought for control of the town because the railroads were situated at the intersection of the east, west, north, and south. The railroads were very important to both the Union and Confederate armies because the railroads provided food, communication, and transportation for troops. Corinth today uses railroads still so they can transport their goods for their companies that way it would get there on time instead of taking those long drives or trying to fit tons and tons of the goods on an
The building of roads, canals and railroads played a large role in the United States during the 1800s. They served the purpose of connecting towns and settlements so that goods could be transported quickly and more efficiently. These goods could be transported fast, cheap and in safe way through the Erie Canal that was built to connect the Great Lakes to New York. Railroads were important during Civil War as well, because it helped in the transportation of goods, supplies and weapons when necessary. These new forms of transportation shaped the United States into the place that it is today.