Railroads + Immigration Flashcards
Pre 1800s US industry
Early 1800s = industrial revolution
Machine made goods movement; steam and coal are sources of energy
What was the significant changing point of U.S. industries?
Civil war - 1865
Post civil war US industry
Industrial Era - expansion of American industry
Sources of energy = oil, electricity
Big city factories and railroads grew
How did Communication and retail change after the civil war?
Communications improved with inventions of telegraph and telephone
Retail created department stores like Macy’s and Sears with chain stores and mail order catalogs
RFD = rural free delivery
How did transportations change from pre to post civil war?
Pre - canals, steamboats, turnpikes
Post - RR developments with steel rails, standard track gauges, signals, air brakes, time zones, passenger comforts
-Cornelius Vanderbilt created an empire
What was the transcontinental rr?
Completed in 1869
Connected west and east, met in Utah with a golden spike.
Why did governments support the railroads?
- Offered unity for the nation
- Created economic growth
- Gov. Received long term discounted rates for postal service and military traffic for supporting railroads
- Cheaply created a transportation system for it avoided direct taxes
- Gave Western land value due to increase of urbanization brought by railroads.
Why did railroads need subsidies and land grants?
- Costly as well as risky
- Building in thinly populated areas was unprofitable until those areas were built up (which railroads did).
- Private promoters were unwilling to risk heavy losses
How many rr?
Who built them (companies and people)?
5 transcontinental rr
Union Pacific and central pacific = companies
James Hill and Cornelius Vanderbilt
What 6 things did rr effect?
Industrial expansion Agriculture Cities Immigration Great Plains Wealth concentration
How did rr effect industrial expansion?
Rr spurred growth like nothing else.
Trains opened up the West’s resources, helped create the steel industry as well.
Created national market, stimulated growth, and lowered costs of production
How did rr effect agriculture?
Trains carried farmers to lands and brought labor for them as well as moved their surplus to markets in the East.
Transported machinery for mining and farmers
Farmers were created for 50 miles around railroads, due to land grants (and opposite land dedication by gov, one square farming one railroad)
How did rr effect cities?
Populate the West by carrying enough food for a lot of people, also gave people a livelihood and with raw materials and access to a market.
-surged movement out west
How did rr effect Immigration?
Stimulated immigration
- Ads in Europe filled labor needs on farms and railroads
- Offered free transport on railroads.
How did rr effect Great Plains?
Grass tilled to create farms, cattle replaced native buffalo, and pine forests disappeared for fences and houses.
How did rr effect Wealth Concentration?
A new aristocracy emerged, replaced ‘lord of the lash’ with ‘lord of the rails’
-Stock speculators and railroad investors amassed wealth.
What was the interstate commerce act?
Created in 1887; it was the first attempt by the gov. to regulate businesses to appease the society at large.
- actual law wasn’t revolutionary, the idea that governments could use power to control businesses was
What is a red letter law
A law which is revolutionary and met with opposition (?)
What four factors came together at the end of the 1800s to create the industrial boom?
- Liquid capital
- Natural Resources
- Labor
- Innovation
How did liquid capital contribute to industrial boom?
Civil war created immense fortunes and the addition of foreign loans allows investments in companies.
-Private banks allowed businesses to be run primarily in the U.S., keeping profits in the U.S.
How did natural resources contribute to industrial boom?
- natural resources were transported from mines to factories to manufacturers easily
- coal, steel, oil, metals
