RISE OF RAILROADS
Manifest Destiny; the God given right of expansion justifies the American hunger for land. Over land; a long, dangerous, and expensive trip by stagecoach had to be attained. Through water, passenger had to travel 18,000 miles around the tip of south America in order to get to the west. The Railroad; a safer, faster and cheaper way of transportation offered a more efficient trip to the west allowing expansion and the extinction of Native Americans
Native Americans
As railroad construction crawled across the nation, rail companies organized massive hunts for buffalo. The herds were hunted near extinction destroying a resource upon which Native Americans had depended. Some tribes such as Sioux fought back winnig some battles (Little Big Horn, where George Cluster met his death) but the federal government ultimetley overpowered them. Attempting to settle the issue of Indians peacefully, the American government passed the Dawes Severalty Act in 1887. This act granted American citizenship for Indian families that lived on the land for over 25 years. It was meant to accelerate the assimilation of Native Americans into white society but resisting to the act, tribes were decimated.
Transcontinental railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad was commissioned by Congress in 1862 to build a transcontinental railroad starting in Omaha, Nebraska.
Most railroad workers were either Scottish or Chinese. They discovered the use of nitroglycerin exploding tunnels trough mountains and other geographic obstacles. Rail-lying at the California end of the railroad was taken up by the Central Pacific Railroad. The Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad companies both received monetary aid from the government. The transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, increasing trade with Asia and opening up the West and the Great plains for expansion.
In order to motivate expasion, the government passed the Homestead Act and the Morill Land Grant act in 1862. The land granted belonged to the Indians but the federal governnment still offered 160 acres of land for anyone who would "homestead" it (cultivate the land, build a house, and live there). Private speculators would try to buy the land for their own personal economic interest. The Morilla Land Grant Act set aside land and provided money for agrigultural colleges eventually causing the rise of agricultural science industry in the U.S.
Most railroad workers were either Scottish or Chinese. They discovered the use of nitroglycerin exploding tunnels trough mountains and other geographic obstacles. Rail-lying at the California end of the railroad was taken up by the Central Pacific Railroad. The Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad companies both received monetary aid from the government. The transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, increasing trade with Asia and opening up the West and the Great plains for expansion.
In order to motivate expasion, the government passed the Homestead Act and the Morill Land Grant act in 1862. The land granted belonged to the Indians but the federal governnment still offered 160 acres of land for anyone who would "homestead" it (cultivate the land, build a house, and live there). Private speculators would try to buy the land for their own personal economic interest. The Morilla Land Grant Act set aside land and provided money for agrigultural colleges eventually causing the rise of agricultural science industry in the U.S.
Railroad revolution
The railroad stimulated the industrialization of the country in the post-Civil War years. It created an enormous domestic market for American raw materials and manufactured goods. Railroad companies also stimulated immigration.
As people started to move west more states strated to achieve statehood. Historian Fredirick Jackson Trurner argued the significance of the American frontier know as the Turner or Frontier Thesis. It defined American character, shaped the American spirit, fostered democracy, and provided sfety for economic distress in urban industrial centers.
People then discovered time zones. Taking advantage for a new market industry, Richard Sears began to sell pocket watches that could be esily adjustable to the proper time. He also used the railroad for sales, distribution, and mailing; benifiting of this inovation to the fullest.
In order to keep schedules and avoid wrecks, the major rail lines stated, on November 18, 1883, that the continent would be divided into 4 times zones - most towns accepted the new time method.
As people started to move west more states strated to achieve statehood. Historian Fredirick Jackson Trurner argued the significance of the American frontier know as the Turner or Frontier Thesis. It defined American character, shaped the American spirit, fostered democracy, and provided sfety for economic distress in urban industrial centers.
People then discovered time zones. Taking advantage for a new market industry, Richard Sears began to sell pocket watches that could be esily adjustable to the proper time. He also used the railroad for sales, distribution, and mailing; benifiting of this inovation to the fullest.
In order to keep schedules and avoid wrecks, the major rail lines stated, on November 18, 1883, that the continent would be divided into 4 times zones - most towns accepted the new time method.
The rail in power
With great wealth and prosperity came much corruption. In order to increase the weight of cows, "stock watering" was adopted. It entailed forcing a cow to bloat itself with water before it was weighed for sale; claiming more profit. Railroaders, feeling above the law exercised too much direct control over the lives of people. The Credit Mobilier scandal erupted in 1872 when Union Pacific Railroad insiders formed the Credit Mobilier construction company and then hired themselves at inflated prices to build the railroad line. When the public found out that government officials were paid to stay quiet about the business, some officials were censured.
Government restrain the iron horse
As the depression of the 1870s came,many farmers ran into bankruptcy. Railroad investors also began to derive farmers' grain price; leading to greater debts. Angered southerners then elected representatives that passed the Granger laws, to prevent opressive trnasportation rates. These laws led to the Munn v Illinois case in 1877. Robber Barons used the 14th amendment for their defense but the court argued that states may regualte the use of private property when necessary for public interest. Many Midwestern legislatures tried to regulate the railroad monopoly, but in 1886, the Supreme Court ruled in the Wabash case that individual states had no power to regulate interstate commerce. In 1887, Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act. It prohibited rebates and pools, required the railroads to publish their rates openly, forbade unfair discrimination against shippers, and outlawed charging more for a short trip than for a long one over the same line. It also created the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) to administer and enforce the new legislation. The new laws provided an orderly forum where competing business interests could resolve their conflicts in peaceful ways. The laws tended to stabilize the existing railroad business.