Due to the railroad's construction, there was a very high demand for enslaved laborers during the mid-19th century in Western North Carolina. Enslaved people were assigned many tasks such as digging track beds, laying tracks, working as cleaners, brakemen, maintenance workers, and cooks.
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Along the way, these men helped give birth to the African American professional classes. The transcontinental railroad line offered them new opportunities for employment, broader knowledge about the U.S. for their personal betterment and that of their community.
In the early 1800s, Quaker abolitionist Isaac T.Hopper set up a network in Philadelphia that helped enslaved people on the run. At the same time, Quakers in North Carolina established abolitionist groups that laid the groundwork for routes and shelters for escapees.
According to some estimates, between 1810 and 1850, the Underground Railroad helped to guide one hundred thousand enslaved people to freedom. As the network grew, the railroad metaphor stuck. “Conductors” guided runaway enslaved people from place to place along the routes.
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.
Railways allowed people to travel further, more quickly. This allowed leisure travel, and contributed to the growth of seaside resorts. It also allowed people to live further from their places of work, as the phenomenon of commuting took hold.