The railroads provided the efficient, relatively cheap transportation that made both farming and milling profitable. They also carried the foodstuffs and other products that the men and women living on the single-crop bonanza farms needed to live.
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The railroad opened the way for the settlement of the West, provided new economic opportunities, stimulated the development of town and communities, and generally tied the country together.
The Complaints of FarmersThey generally blamed low prices on over-production. Second, farmers alleged that monopolistic railroads and grain elevators charged unfair prices for their services. Government regulation was the farmers' solution to the problem of monopoly.
Many attributed their problems to discriminatory railroad rates, monopoly prices charged for farm machinery and fertilizer, an oppressively high tariff, an unfair tax structure, an inflexible banking system, political corruption, corporations that bought up huge tracks of land.
The railroads also fleeced the small farmer. Farmers were often charged higher rates to ship their goods a short distance than a manufacturer would pay to transport wares a great distance.
Answer and Explanation:However, two industries benefited the most from the Transcontinental Railroad. Those were cotton and cattle. Railroads made it possible for cotton farmers in the east to ship their products to the western frontier quickly.
The railroads provided the efficient, relatively cheap transportation that made both farming and milling profitable. They also carried the foodstuffs and other products that the men and women living on the single-crop bonanza farms needed to live.
Improved transportation has affected farming by expanding the market area for harvested goods, as well as improving access to technology, equipment and labor. Early transportation such as oxen and donkeys allowed farmers to travel and sell or barter their excess crops for other goods.
The developing railroads rapidly became huge businesses, imperative to the success of American enterprise. The material needs of the railroads helped create several other big industries, such as iron, steel, copper, glass, machine tools, and oil.
They unified countries, created great fortunes, enabled the growth of new industries, and thoroughly revolutionized life in every place they ran. Yet the human tolls for some projects were ghastly, with deaths of native laborers running into the tens of thousands.
The railroad became a way for companies to ship to each other from across the country, transport raw materials to factories, and send final products to consumers. Not only did the railway system grow due to the flourishing businesses, but corporations expanded as well due to the growth of the railway system.
Railroads discriminated in the prices they charged to passengers and shippers in different localities by providing rebates to large shippers or buyers. These practices were especially harmful to American farmers, who lacked the shipment volume necessary to obtain more favorable rates.