Transcontinental Railroad Essay

The end of the United States Civil War in 1865 should have guaranteed emancipation for freedmen, however the unjust treatment as well as legal persecution, did not ensure success in their future. The development of the country as an industrial state divided the North and South, once again, via economic and racial tensions. As cities became more populated and those who controlled different industries, such as railroads, became more wealthy, organized labor and attempts for reform grew.

The Civil War ended with the Southern Confederacy conceding at the hands of the union generals. The union victory quickly abolished the idea that a slave state would live forever in the United States or that a new country could form with these principles. With

Previously, railroads were short lines which only connected local or closer areas and did not connect the country as a whole. Likewise, the western lands, being developed as states, were still newly developed and did not have the centralization and development of its eastern counterparts, lacking the connection in the country from west to east. With the creation of the Transcontinental Railroad, many of these problems were solved as the railroads allowed for more interconnectedness of the United States and speed. The railroads revolutionized the industrialization of the country, sparking a change in

As the railroads were new, many did not see the potential for its monetary and economic value. “For those who were able to capitalize on these technological advancements, the Second Industrial Revolution was highly profitable”. The railroads became the facet to which all of the other industries relied upon due to the need for transportation; the railroad industry allowed for other industries, steel and oil, to have their own dominating forces in Carnegie and Rockefeller. The railroad barons soon became so wealthy that the idea of competition became non-existent, as they took the idea of corporations and applied it to businesses, a new phenomenon. As the government recognized the quick growth and power with which these railroads barons had gained, the Interstate Commerce Act was passed in 1887 which made railroads the first federally regulated industry; this hoped to investigate abuses by railroads and address their increasing power. In a similar manner, these companies were attempting to monopolize their industries, as others were being excluded from the playing field. This led to the development of trusts leading to the passage of the Sherman Antitrust Act, which the federal government laid claims over via their ability to regulate interstate