There have been steam engine trains trailing the United States in the early 1800’s. Many of the early ones ran only a few dozen miles. When the railways ran longer distances, the cost to build and later ride them were be extremely high. However, long distances were what Minnesota needed to keep up with the competitive and growing nation around it. “Construction began on the first track in 1861 in St. Paul and was completed in 1862.” These railroads, however, were expensive and needed many willing workers and finances to keep it going. During the Panic of 1873, many of the railroads that were built or in the process of building, got shut down. The economy was plummeting and the railroad companies could not keep up with the expenses. One Canadian-born,
Investors rushed to profit from rising prices, new markets, high tariffs (tax on imports), and seemingly boundless opportunities. But in 1873 a severe panic triggered a five-year depression. Banks closed, farm prices plummeted steel furnaces stood idle, and one out of four railroads failed. Within two years, eighteen thousand businesses went bankrupt; 3 million were unemployed by 1878. Wage cuts hit those still employed; labor protests occurred; and industrial violence spread.
Railroads were expensive to build, so the government financed
After its 1869 debut, the Central Pacific’s Altamont Pass route provided the shortest all-land connection from Sacramento to the Bay Area. It remained, nonetheless, a long detour compared with a direct-line route between the two points. From the start, the Central Pacific’s principals recognized its faults and sought alternatives. In the mid-1850s, two businessmen—DeWitt C. Haskins and Doctor D. W. C. Rice—proposed a railway from Marysville south to Knight’s Landing on the Sacramento River.
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.
In 1862, congress began the pacific railroads act, it also provided funding for the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad. But, the other transcontinental lines came in shortly after. There were problems with finance in 1873 and 1893, which they had to immediately stop the process of construction; and many ventures were
The Panic of 1873 contributed to The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 by allowing hardworking people to experience financial struggle and by causing southern blacks to nearly lose the little hope they had remaining. Although The Panic of 1873 contributed to many bad things, it ended in a way many did not think it would end. President Hayes eventually [sent many troops and militia from city to city] where strike occurred to decrease and soon cease all strikes until it was over (PBS 1). In 1878, many believe that this was when the strike was over, but many smaller strikes resulted thereafter from The Great Railroad Strike. But what we refer to as The Great Railroad Strike of 1877 finally ended in 1879.
Gilded Age industrialization fueled the dependence of the railroad in the Progressive Era. Railroads, government, and the economy were not only interrelated, but they were also interdependent. The federal government and the railroad companies often worked together, with the government providing subsidies to the companies and discounted prices. Congress also provided free land and thousands of miles in subsidies to the companies. Furthermore, railroads directly impacted the country's economy, being a key factor in causing the Panic of 1873 and the Panic of 1893.
Which scared off investors and began to sell off their investments that they had in American projects which were particularly railroads. The panic of 1873 happened so fast and so sudden on the other side of the world, and it arrived at the United States in a blink of an eye. The stock market came crashing down as fast as
E. (2011). Panic of 1873. In C. L. Clark (Ed.), The American Economy: A Historical Encyclopedia (2nd ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.apus.edu/login?url=http://search.credoreference.com/content/entry/abcamerecon/panic_of_1873/0?institutionId=8703 Stockwell, M. (2011).
Although the Pony Express didn’t last very long, it still had a huge impact in the time of the 1860’s. Between January and March of 1860, William Waddell, William Russell and Alexander Majors established the Pony Express. It was called the Central Overland California & Pikes Peak Express Company. They then had to chose two places to set up at. Out in the east St. Joseph, Missouri and out in the west Sacramento, California.
Baldwin Locomotive Works successfully navigated the highly competitive Gilded Age by deliberately avoiding standardized mass-production techniques, contrary to other companies at the time that had relied on standardization and bureaucratic centralization. Due to Baldwin’s customized building techniques, the company developed systematic managerial controls earlier than most other companies. As the locomotive technology advanced, railroad officials sought to gain significant control over the development of such technology, and this power struggle, combined with varied railroad conditions, led to increasing demand for customized locomotive designs. This movement basically made standardization and mass production virtually impossible for steam
With the advent of the railroad, many of these issues disappeared. Railroads had a major impact on advancing the American economy, transforming America into a modern society, and improving an antiquated transportation system. The building of railroads created rapid economic growth in America. Railroad companies employed more than one million workers to build and maintain railroads. At the same time, coal, timber, and steel industries employed thousands of workers to provide the supplies necessary to build railroads (Chapter 12 Industrialization).
Steam Locomotive Impact on American Industrial Revolution Imagine a world where the fastest means of transportation is riding horseback. Without the steam locomotive, that's how life would be. The steam locomotive is a steam train that revolutionized transportation on railways. Despite originating in Britain, railways made a lasting impact in America. The steam locomotive was a major part in the American industrial revolution making transportation easier, cheaper, and faster.
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)
Have you ever wondered what it would be like without transportation? In the 1890’s the railroad system, the main source of transportation at that time, came to a halt after a strike called the Pullman Strike. A severe depression had hit the United States in 1893. This hit a railroad manufacturing company called the Pullman company hard.