How did railroads change America during the Industrial Revolution?

Railroads became a major industry, stimulating other heavy industries such as iron and steel production. These advances in travel and transport helped drive settlement in the western regions of North America and were integral to the nation's industrialization.



People Also Ask

The development of railroads was one of the most important phenomena of the Industrial Revolution. With their formation, construction and operation, they brought profound social, economic and political change to a country only 50 years old.

MORE DETAILS

The railroads powered the industrial economy. They consumed the majority of iron and steel produced in the United States before 1890. As late as 1882, steel rails accounted for 90 percent of the steel production in the United States. They were the nation's largest consumer of lumber and a major consumer of coal.

MORE DETAILS

If the steam engine is the icon of the industrial revolution, it's most famous incarnation is the steam driven locomotive. The union of steam and iron rails produced the railways, a new form of transport which boomed in the later nineteenth century, affecting industry and social life.

MORE DETAILS

The railroads powered the industrial economy. They consumed the majority of iron and steel produced in the United States before 1890. As late as 1882, steel rails accounted for 90 percent of the steel production in the United States. They were the nation's largest consumer of lumber and a major consumer of coal.

MORE DETAILS

In 1826 Stevens demonstrated the feasibility of steam locomotion on a circular experimental track constructed on his estate in Hoboken, New Jersey, three years before George Stephenson perfected a practical steam locomotive in England. The first railroad charter in North America was granted to Stevens in 1815.

MORE DETAILS

Long-distance transport of goods by wagon to a canal or river was slow and expensive. A railroad to a city made it an inland port that often prospered or turned a town into a city.

MORE DETAILS

Where railroads went, towns and cities with bustling new commerce arose, all dependent on the railways for shipments of food and goods. The construction of the railroads spawned huge new industries in steel, iron, and coal. No other business so dramatically stimulated and embodied the industrialization process.

MORE DETAILS

The increase in railroad mileage made it possible to transport goods and people over long distances quickly and efficiently. This led to the creation of a national market for goods, which in turn encouraged mass production and mass consumption.

MORE DETAILS

Railroads provided fresh supplies of arms, men, equipment, horses, and medical supplies on a direct route to where armies were camped. The railroad was also put to use for medical evacuations, transporting wounded soldiers to better medical care.

MORE DETAILS

Railroads Were at the Forefront of Political Corruption “Railroads need monopoly franchises and subsidies, and to get them, they are more than willing to bribe public officials,” White says. The Central Pacific Railroad, for example, spent $500,000 annually in thinly disguised bribes between 1875 and 1885.

MORE DETAILS