Were trains a result of the Industrial Revolution?
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.
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During this time, the number of miles of railroad tracks grew exponentially from a mere 45,000 miles in 1871 to nearly 200,000 miles by 1900. Railroads came to touch nearly every facet of American life as consumers and producers alike came to depend on it as a source of transportation.
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.
The advent of the railways in Europe drastically changed time and distance during the Industrial Revolution. Before the invention of railways, people relied on other means of transportation such as walking and using horses.
Richard Trevithick, a British mining engineer and inventor, built the first train in 1804. The train was powered by a steam engine with a large flywheel to even the piston rod action, giving the world the first machine that could carry a large number of people and goods.
The Industrial Revolution shifted societies from an agrarian economy to a manufacturing economy where products were no longer made solely by hand but by machines. This led to increased production and efficiency, lower prices, more goods, improved wages, and migration from rural areas to urban areas.
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.
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 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.
Even though railroads made life a little bit easier, it was hazardous to the environment, and the people, such as the destruction of natural resources, more pollution in the air also affected people causing even more diseases and made it much harder to breather with these conditions.
Railways were introduced in England in the seventeenth century as a way to reduce friction in moving heavily loaded wheeled vehicles. The first North American gravity road, as it was called, was erected in 1764 for military purposes at the Niagara portage in Lewiston, New York.
The first regular carrier of passengers and freight was the Baltimore and Ohio railroad, completed on February 28, 1827. It was not until Christmas Day, 1830, when the South Carolina Canal and Railroad Company completed the first mechanical passenger train, that the modern railroad industry was born.
Railways had a major impact on farming, as perishable goods such as dairy products could now be moved long distances before they were inedible. The standard of living rose as a result. New companies formed to both run railways and take advantage of the possibilities, and a major new employer was created.