Completed in 1869, the Transcontinental Railroad opened new doors for the United States. In order for this to happen though, some had to be closed. Our country was in desperate need on some of these changes, but some we could have lived without. This great connection of the coasts brought with it many positive and negative effects on the Native Americans, society, and the environment.
2. In what ways did development in transportation bring about economic and social change in the United States in the period 1810-1840? Thesis: The developments in transportation in the early 19th century brought about the completion of new canals and roads, these developments linked the east to the west an example of this on page 161 in amsco is “The completion of the Erie canal in New York state in 1825 was a major event in linking the economies of western farms and eastern cities” This is showing that transportation simulates an economic dependency of the cities on the farms in which they are receiving goods from.
Travelling and transporting goods were very inconvenient before railroads were built in 19th-century. “Before railroads, shipping a ton of goods 400 miles could easily quadruple the price. But by rail, the same ton of goods could be shipped in a fraction of the time and one-twentieth of the cost. ”9. These made the economies of the American West bad and difficult to improve.
The Transcontinental Railroad transformed the United States socially by allowing people to travel across the country, bringing people together, and beginning discrimination against the Chinese. The first way that the Transcontinental Railroad transformed the United States is by allowing people to travel across the country. Many ads invited “tourists and pleasure seekers” to use the Transcontinental Railroad to see mountains, valley, lakes, and more attractions (Doc G). Before the Transcontinental Railroad, it was difficult and dangerous to travel away from home, but the railroads made it easy, safe, and convenient to explore the country.
As stated in Background information "America's economic transformation in the 1800s was linked to dramatic changes in transportation networks.” This was followed up by "The development of canals, steamboats, roads, and railroads led to the expansion of
The Unification of America Through The Transportation Revolution By Robert Beckman From the period 1800 to 1860, many transportation innovations were made as America continued to advance technologically. This period of time was aptly named the transportation revolution as many of the innovations developed in this era laid the foundation of modern infrastructure which supports 360 million Americans each day. The construction of vast road networks and the national road, the invention of the steamboat to transport goods upstream and through canals, and the massive expansion of the railroad system all furthered the unity of the United States by allowing much faster transportation to remote areas of America. Despite political differences, faster
The country not only experienced rapid economic and political growth, which resulted in numerous significant improvements but also drastically expanded its horizons by developing the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. This project transformed Americans lives on many levels forever. Although the final results of the completed project were fulfilling, the decision-making process was quite challenging. In 1953 Congress tried to find the best potential transcontinental railroad route among five that have been previously authorized, however, each single engineering company and the political group had their own idea which one is the best. “ The top choice
First Transcontinental Road is Built The first transcontinental road was a length of 1,776 miles. The transcontinental road was built in 1860 and finished on May 10, 1869. This was one of America’s greatest inventions that had brought many successes to America, however there were difficulties along the way, such as Native American tribes being moved due to the transcontinental road invading their land. In this paper I am going to tell you about the invention that was so important to America in the 19th century.
(TH) With the formation of the railroads, construction and operation, brought a vast cultural, economic and political change to a country only 46 years old. (SSP1)Geo Right after the creation of the rail roads, people in the US started to realize how amazing this creation actually is and how it changed people’s lives economically. Peoples first thoughts on what to do with the rail roads was to transport goods. (R1)
The interstate system, enacted by President Eisenhower on June 29, 1956 was in my opinion, what changed urban and rural America. The interstate changed how Americans traveled, conducted business, and transported goods across the country. I feel that the benefits from this system outweigh the negative effects. Dwight D. Eisenhower, the 34th President of the United States and retired Army General created the brainchild of a system of highways in the United States that was similar to the Autobahn in Germany, which Eisenhower visited while fighting in WWII. The autobahn had 2 travel lanes in each direction, and allowed fast speeds, making travel across Germany more efficient.
No longer was small-town America able to stay insular, and cities within more isolated regions of the country saw growth. As highways grew, so did the number of people traveling on them. The highway has earned a reputation for danger over the years. Murdered hitchhikers and similar crimes lead to a lack of connection between people or fondness for the open road. Highways were not only an opportunity for growth, they were an opportunity for exploitation.
In the Saturday Evening Post in October 1956, the Interstate System is described as connecting “209 if the 237 cities having a population of 50,000 or more”, which was considered a huge success in the nation (Document D). People now would be able to escape from their cities if ever needed. Because of this, the threat of nuclear warfare didn’t seem as personal anymore, as people would have been able to get out of their homes in the case of an atomic bomb going
Throughout American History, revolutions in transportation have affected the American society politically, socially and economically. Soon after the war of 1812, American nationalism increased which leads to a greater emphasis on national issues, the increase in power and prevalence of the national government and a growing sense of the American Identity. Railways, canals, and Turnpikes began to increase making many people employed. The era of 1830-1860 represents a shift from agrarianism to industrialism. Overall, during the transportation revolution, construction of turnpikes, roads, canals, and railroads led to the market economy expansion, an increased population in America and alternations of the physical landscape of America.
Nowadays we have the luxury of traveling across the united states in a few days with smooth, paved roads with heat and air conditioned cars. Immigrants of the 1850s had to spend months at a time traveling across the United States. They had rough trails, illnesses, and no bridges to cross rivers. People also didn’t have very reliable wagons, so they had to repair their wagons along the journey. But in the modern days we have reliable cars that are a fast way of transportation.
Before the 1800s, there were two early roads, Forbes and Wilderness Road. In 1811, the National Road known as Cumberland Road was built to reach Western settlements, because they needed a road to ship farm products that connect East and West. The National Road passed thousand of wagons and coaches. John F. Stover states in American Railroads, “The rich agricultural production of the country, the small but expanding factories of eastern cities, and the largely untapped natural resources of the nation-all of these called for improvements in transport. ”(Stover1)
