Transportation In The 1800s Essay

The railroad had contributed many advantages, therefore dramatically affecting economic, cultural and social lives of the people in the United States. Economically, those advantages included more directed routes, greater speed, safety, and comfort than other modes of land travel, more dependable schedules, a larger volume of traffic, and year-round service. The railroad covered fifty miles in about an hour, 700 miles in a day. It went where canals and rivers did not go—directly to the loading platforms of factories or across the arid West.

The completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad was an important event in the United States history. There were many challenges in building it, but after it was finished, it connected the East Coast of the United States to the West Coast.

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.

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,

The Transcontinental Railroad played a significant role in the settlement of the American West. As of May 10th, 1869, this railroad became the area’s newest and fastest mode of transportation. Its first obligation was to bring settlers in at very low

The Civil War was the first war to use railroads and turn them into a weapon of war. During the Civil War railroads became the vital new technology for both the Union and Confederate forces. The great distances separating armies, the need for supplies, and quicker troop movements all increased the need for the railroad. Without this new weapon the Civil War may have lasted until the last man was literally left standing. The ability to implement and use the railroads in the Civil War would play a crucial role in the North’s victory and the South’s defeat. Those who controlled the rail lines controlled the war.

The Transcontinental Railroad and the Interstate Highway System were not only the two biggest contributions in the history of transportation in the United States but are tremendously similar to each other in how they were built. Both systems were built in times of extremely desperate need of a way of transportation across the country which made them such big advantages to American society. The two systems have been majorly significant tools in the history the United States as well as modern day life.

Transportation vastly improved in the early 1800s. As production increased, people needed faster and easier ways to transport their product. In the early 1800s, the steam locomotive was a huge advancement. “In the early 1800s, pioneers like George Stephenson developed steam-powered locomotives to pull carriages along iron rails” (202). This was a big advancement because a railroad track did not have to follow a river. The tracks could be placed wherever. People could travel further and faster than ever before. “Other inventors applied steam power to improve shipping. In 1807, an American, Robert Fulton, used Watt’s steam engine to power the Clermont up the Hudson River in New York”(202). This was a huge victory at the time. It traveled at

It was also important for factory owners to deliver goods to customers far away from where these goods were manufactured. One improvement they made to help transportation was making a system of roads. This made it a lot easier for travelling from state to state, and even allowed people to pass through the Appalachian Mountains to more Western states with ease. Though the system of roads helped a lot, river travel was still a lot faster. The Northern states made canals to get across the North like the canal from the Hudson River to Lake Erie. This was to let steamboats, a new form of transportation, to deliver goods to the states bordering the rivers and lakes they travelled on. Rails was also one of the largest forms of transportation in the North. Steam-powered trains were used to carry passengers and goods to anywhere that track was

During the late 1800’s, many settlers were expanding to the West and the Transcontinental Railroad helped them move from the East to the West. Some wanted to gain 160 free acres of land known as the Homestead Act. The Transcontinental Railroad connected the East and the West. The Union Pacific Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad were the companies that built the Transcontinental Railroad; however, the companies were run by greedy men and felt no guilt as they asked the government to pass special bills for them. The railroad cut through many lands and affected the Native Americans in a perilously way. Furthermore, many resources, such as buffalo were slaughtered and were almost made extinct, and Native Americans lost their land to American settlers, as well as these resources.Therefore, the Transcontinental

In the late 19th century, railroads propelled America into an era of unprecedented growth, prosperity, and convenient transportation. Prior to the building of the railroads, America lacked the proper and rapid transportation to make traveling across the country economical or practical. Lengthy travel was often cumbersome, costly, and dangerous. 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.

Before the Gilded Age, transportation of any sort was slow, unreliable, and unavailable. However, with the invention of the assembly line and some invention, mass produced automobiles, subterranean trains, elevated trains and basic airplanes were spread out. Therefore, during the late 19th century, transportation was allowing for extreme expanse of trade and economic capability.

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.

The War Between the States was one of America’s greatest wars—it was the fight for freedom, but it also impacted the economy. Because of this, America’s labor and transportation systems both took a significant turn during the Civil War, impacting America’s economy forever. In the end, the American Civil War greatly benefitted our transportation system, but devastated the South’s labor force.

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.