U.S. History
Lesson 2
Railroads Span Time & Space
- Made Westward expansion possible for most people.
- Govt. helped put in Railroads.
A. National Network
1. 1856 – RR extended to the Mis. River.
2. 1869 – May 10 – Central Pacific & Union Pacific joined
at Promontory Point, UT – Transcontinental Railroad.
3. By 1890 – 1.8 million miles of track.
B. Romance & Reality
1. The RR brought dreams of land,
1
land life,
life and adventure.
adventure
2. Building a RR was difficult.
a) hired unemployed C.W. vets & Chinese immigrants.
b) treacherous
t
h
terrain
t
i – Indian
I di attacks,
tt k etc.
t
c) 1000’s died each year.
- 1888 – 2,000 died Æ 20,000 injured.
C. Railroad Time
1.
1
2.
3.
4.
RR united the nation.
nation
Country operated on individual times Æ noon = sun overhead.
Travelers had to change their watch over & over.
Professor C.F. Dowd split the earth into time
time-zones.
zones.
- Nov. 18, 1883 – Towns synchronized their watches.
- 1884 – The entire world went on the system.
Opportunities & Opportunists
- Lots of resources needed for railroads
- Lots of towns popped up while it was being built.
A. New Towns & Markets
1. Promoted interstate trade.
2. Cities specialized
p
in one pproduct – shipped
pp it to other areas.
B. Pullman
1. George M. Pullman – factory to build sleeper cars & RR cars.
a) provided a town for workers to live in. (housing)
b) offered services (Dr.’s, shops, sports, etc.)
C. Credit Mobilier
1 C
1.
Construction
i Co.
C – built
b il RR’s.
RR’ - paid
id off
ff congressmen
- took a huge profit!!! $$$$
2. V.P. Colfax & Congressman James Garfield – involved.
Granges & Railroads
A. Railroad Abuse
1. Farmers said the RR abused govt. land grants.
2. RR charged high prices – gave some special rates, etc.
B G
B.
Granger L
Laws
1. Grange – farmers union – fight for equality, prices, etc.
a) Fought for better conditions
conditions.
- Grange Laws – maximum freight & passenger
rates Æ no discrimination.
b) 1877 – Munn vs
vs. IL – Sup.
Sup Ct
Ct. – upheld Granger Laws
Laws.
C. Interstate Commerce Act
1 1886 – Sup.
1.
Sup Ct
Ct. Æ can
can’tt regulate rates if crossing state lines
lines.
2. Interstate Commerce Act – 1887 – had right to supervise
RR’s. - very little power.
D. Panic
i & Consolidation
lid i
1. Lots of corruption in the RR business.
- led to the Panic of 1893
- 600 banks closed – 15,000 businesses quit.
2. Byy the end – a few p
powerful companies
p
owned all
the railroads.