How did railroads increase political power?

Since the new residents of the West could not survive without the use of the railroads, they were forced to pay whatever rates the raildroad companies set. With these huge stores of capital, the railroad companies were able to finance political campaigns through whatever and whomever was needed in government.



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As the railroads grew in power, they exerted increasing influence on local and state governments, eventually prompting Congress and reform-minded presidents to pass laws to regulate the new industry.

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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.

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During the Gilded Age railroads often tried to coax state governments into offering them favorable construction opportunities. In many cases, railroad companies bribed state legislators and attempted to influence them.

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As new towns sprung up along the rail line, it changed where Americans lived, spurred westward expansion and made travel more affordable. But the project also devastated forests, displaced many Native American tribes and rapidly expanded Anglo-European influence across the country.

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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.

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As the building of rail lines increased during the 1840s and 1850s, the direction of the nation's internal commerce shifted increasingly east-west. The growing economic ties between the East and the West promoted nationalism as well as stronger cultural and political connections between these regions.

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The railroads not only set in motion the combined forces of mass production, distribution, and communication under which the American economy grew by leaps and bounds, they also shaped the foundation of modern capitalism.

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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.

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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.

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What are at least three ways that railroads affected the economy? Able to move supplies in and out, brought metals and produce to the East, allowed towns to be built around tracks, brought workers to the West.

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BUT, our results also imply that the railroad was the cause of midwestern urbanization, accounting for more than half of the increase in the fraction of population living in urban areas during the 1850s.

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