How did railroads affect the Midwest?
Trains carrying crops to market in Chicago returned to the agricultural heartland of the Midwest carrying lumber, furniture, clothing, toys, musical instruments, newspapers—a wide assortment of consumer goods. Among other items, Midwestern farmers invested heavily in new kinds of farm machinery.
How did railroads affect the growth of cities?
A major contributor to city growth was the development of transcontinental railroads which linked America and cities popped up along this railroad. Railroads today continue to help our economic growth by creating jobs, increasing international trades, and offering lower freight costs.
Did railroads induce or follow economic growth urbanization and population growth in the American Midwest?
Urbanization and Population Growth in the American Midwest, 1850-60. 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.
How did the Industrial Revolution impact Midwest?
The Midwest experienced an economical increase in farming and manufacturing after the Second Industrial Revolution. I would have preferred to live in the Northeast region during this period.
What are some of the major industries in the Midwest?
Farming, mining, and manufacturing are the Midwest’s major industries. Other industries like transportation, finance, and machinery are also important. They are all part of the Midwest Region’s economy.
How did the railroad industry impact Western life?
It made commerce possible on a vast scale. In addition to transporting western food crops and raw materials to East Coast markets and manufactured goods from East Coast cities to the West Coast, the railroad also facilitated international trade.
How did railroads affect population?
The Transcontinental Railroad meant that the frontier could be extended with a greater movement of population. Thus, the railroad also allowed people to change their place of living with greater ease than ever before.
How did the growth and development of railroads affect the American economy?
Railroads created a shortage of the coal that was used in fueling New England mills. Railroads eliminated jobs for mule drivers, causing a recession in some areas. Railroads made the rapid movement of produce and goods into many markets possible. Railroads increased transportation expenses and strained the economy.
What technology led to expansion and growth of cities in the Midwest?
Steel changed the economy of the Midwest. Factories sprang up to turn the region’s iron into steel. The Midwest became a giant in steel production because steel was used in the construction of big buildings and in transportation to make things like railroad cars, bridges, tall buildings, planes, and cars.
How did railroads change the economy of the Midwest?
The Railroads: Expansion and Economic Transformation in the Midwest. Wider Markets. Before the middle of the nineteenth century, the economic highways of the nation lay along its waterways: the coastlines and rivers, and, after 1810, the artificial rivers carved into the land in the form of canals.
What was the impact of the transcontinental railroad?
Subsidized railroad companies in the late 19 th and early 20 th centuries were the most important factor in the substantial increase in leisure travel related markets such as national parks, resorts, and the rise of major western cities with the increased accessibility to once isolated and untraversed regions.
What was the total mileage of the railroads in the 1850s?
In the 1850s the total railroad mileage in Indiana, Missouri, and Iowa climbed from 339 to 6,635 miles. Illinois laid down 2,500 miles of track over this same, pivotal decade. These new lines of transportation quickly rerouted the traffic of midwestern produce to flow east, rather than south.
What was the purpose of the western railroads?
These railroads formed a powerful circulating system with Chicago at its heart: a western network of capillary lines that assembled the products of western farms in bits and pieces, to form the bulk shipments that flowed east along the thicker arteries of the trunk lines.