What Were The Consequences Of The Development Of The Railroad And Cattle Industries? Flashcards
When was the transcontinental railroad made and what act allowed this?
From 1862-1869 and the pacific railroad act approved by lincoln allowed this.
What happened to wealth as a result of the railroads?
Point: companies became very rich who were making the railroad.
Evidence: union pacific and central pacific railroads became very rich and owned land the size of texas (175,000 acres).
Analasys: lincoln wanted to encourage the building of the railroad therefore the companies got money for the amount of track they laid and the surrounding land.
They got money for the track so they built lots of it extremely fast but it was mainly because of the land because they had control over it and could sell it and make even more profit for however much they wanted.
What were the lives of workers like as a result of the railroad?
Point: immigrants were abused by bring forced to work extremely long hours in very harsh conditions.
Evidence: immigrants mostly worked on building the railroads and 12,000 chinese immigrants had dangerous conditions because of explosives used in the Sierra Nevada mountains.
Analasys: owners wanted to make more money and get more land so more track needed to be laid. This meant workers worked in mountains that were extremely cold and for long hours but the explosives and dangerous methods they were forced to use, because owners were desperate to build more track, lead to people being injured and even dying because there wasnt much experience using them.
How were natives impacted by the railroad?
Point: they had their way of life disrupted by settlers.
Evidence: towns were settled and cattle ranches were set up on native land.
Analasys: this intruded on native land once again but also disrupted the patterns of the buffalo which many plains tribes were completely reliant on for survival. This meant the natives could no longer live nomadically as they previously did because the buffalo did not have the same moving patterns.
When and why did cattle drives occur?
1867- early 1880s because in the plains it was profitable to raise cattle in the south and drive them up to the railroad to sell for more money in the east.
What effect did cattle drives have on cattle traders?
Point: cattle traders became very rich because of the profits they gained from cattle drives.
Evidence: Charles Goodnight and Oliver Loving made 24,000 in 1866 off of the Goodnight Loving trail
Analasys: they employed other cowboys and paid them very little so they got the profits off of cattle drives when the cattle meat would sell very well in the east compared to the south (4 dollars in south and 40 dollars in east) and they became very rich from this.
What effect did cattle drives have on cowboys?
Point: they were exploited in dangerous conditions for prolonged periods for very little money.
Evidence: they were only paid one dollar a day.
Analasys: they made very little money while working in the heat and dust. They accepted this because they had no choice and were unemplyed men who were often black or immigrants that couldnt get jobs anywhere else. They also had to protect the cattle from rustlers who attempted to steal the cattle while on drives which also put their lives on the line while still being payed barely anything which made survival difficult.
What happened to cow towns as a result of cattle drives?
Point: they developed into unruly towns where violence was common.
Evidence: these were towns where cattle were bought and sold and cowboys could rest. The first was in abeline, texas.
Analasys: an increase in gun culture (because of protecting cattle), alcahol and exhausted and unhappy cowboys (because of long/hard drives) all combined to make cow towns very violent places. This eventually meant that sherrifs had to be made to protect the town and keep order because violence was so bad.
When and why did cattle ranches originate?
1867-early 1880s because it was more profitable to raise cattle next to the railroad because this meant cattle drives werent needed.
How did the creation of cattle ranches effect cattle barons?
Point: cattle barons became very rich and dominated.
Evidence: rich investors who bought huge amounts of land for ranching often driving put honesteaders.
Analasys: they made huge profits from this because they bought so much land and payed workers who actually raised the cattle very little. They also pushed homesteaders off their land because they wanted the land and because they were so rich they could buy the land anyway.
What happened to cowboy culture as a result of cattle ranches?
Point: there was a decline in cowboy culture.
Evidence: because cattle were being raised next to the railroad there was no need to cattle drives therefore cowboys werent needed anymore.
Analasys: this lead to a decline in cowboy culture because there was no need for cowboys anymore. This left them without jobs but because of this many of them became farm labourers responsible for keeping order on the cattle ranches.
What was the impact cattle ranches had on natives?
Point: negative impact on natives because overgrazing became a massive issue.
Evidence: cattle needed lots of grass so they took up lots of space and ate lots of it which lead to overgrazing and 10% of america was fenced off during these years.
Analasys: ranches stopped the normal buffalo moving patterns and overgrazing didnt leave the buffalo with enough grass for themselves. This meant many buffaloes died or didnt live as they normally would and plains natives often lived nomadically so when the buffalos lives were changed theirs was too because thye were so heavily reliant on them.
