An improvement during the antebellum period was the railroad. Railroads displaced canals as the favorite internal improvement by the 1850s. Faster and more versatile than canal or river travel, railroads became the major carriers of people and goods to and from the West. The first railroad companies, such as the Mohawk and Hudson Railroad (1826), connected coastal cities and seaports with the surrounding regions. The first American rail company to reach over the Appalachians, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad (B&O) was chartered in 1828 and began running trains in 1830. Construction to Wheeling was completed by 1852. The Chicago and Rock Island Railroad reached the Mississippi River in 1854, connecting this crucial river system with the Great Lakes region for the first time. Other important early railroads include the New York Central Railroad; the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad; the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad; and the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad. Just as the Erie Canal had transformed New York City into the most important American seaport, the railroad system made Chicago the center of the expanding western market. While the whole nation would not be connected from sea to sea until 1869, railroads were well on their way to transforming space, time, and production before the Civil War. However, the first railroad started in Britain in the 1820s. The US had 13 miles of track in the 1830 and 31,000 miles of track by 1860. Such a transportation system would not be affected by the same bad-weather problems as canals. Builders hoped that merchants would choose to move goods by rail, especially in the winter when alternative canals froze over. People also quickly realized the speed with which new railroads could transport passengers and goods to new markets. The train made it much faster to travel to areas around the country.
In 1862 Congress chartered a federal corporation to build a transcontinental railroad. The congressional act created the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railways to begin construction of a railroad connecting the eastern portion of the United States with the Pacific coast. Both companies built their railroads on lands given to them by the federal government. On May 10, 1869, the two lines met at Promontory Point, Utah. Mostly Chinese immigrant men had labored from Sacramento, California, across the Sierra Nevada mountain range to build 689 miles of the Central Pacific Railroad. In Utah they met the end of 1,086 miles of the Union Pacific Railroad, which Irish immigrants, newly freed African Americans, and Civil War veterans had labored to build.
By 1850, an estimated $300 million was invested in railroads, making them the most capital-intensive industry in the country. This new transportation route ushered in large-scale migration to the West. Because the federal government gave chartered railroad companies lands along their railways, those companies in turn sponsored migration to western lands. The enormous amount of capital needed to build and maintain a railroad also caused the political and economic growth of the West. As a form of transportation, railroads not only moved passengers and goods but also the power center of the United States. Along with shifting political power to the West, the railroad industry strengthened connections between industry and the federal government. Federal troops breaking up the Great Strike of 1877 highlighted this partnership.
Holtkamp Gervase, Samantha. "transportation in the 19th century." In Waugh, John, and Gary B. Nash, eds. Encyclopedia of American History: Civil War and
Reconstruction, 1856 to 1869, Revised Edition (Volume V). New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAHV291&SingleRecord=True
(accessed April 10, 2013).
McConnell, Eleanor H. "internal improvements during the antebellum period." In Rohrbough, Malcolm J., and Gary B. Nash, eds. Encyclopedia of American
History: Expansion and Reform, 1813 to 1855, Revised Edition (Volume IV). New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAHIV131&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 9, 2013).
In 1862 Congress chartered a federal corporation to build a transcontinental railroad. The congressional act created the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railways to begin construction of a railroad connecting the eastern portion of the United States with the Pacific coast. Both companies built their railroads on lands given to them by the federal government. On May 10, 1869, the two lines met at Promontory Point, Utah. Mostly Chinese immigrant men had labored from Sacramento, California, across the Sierra Nevada mountain range to build 689 miles of the Central Pacific Railroad. In Utah they met the end of 1,086 miles of the Union Pacific Railroad, which Irish immigrants, newly freed African Americans, and Civil War veterans had labored to build.
By 1850, an estimated $300 million was invested in railroads, making them the most capital-intensive industry in the country. This new transportation route ushered in large-scale migration to the West. Because the federal government gave chartered railroad companies lands along their railways, those companies in turn sponsored migration to western lands. The enormous amount of capital needed to build and maintain a railroad also caused the political and economic growth of the West. As a form of transportation, railroads not only moved passengers and goods but also the power center of the United States. Along with shifting political power to the West, the railroad industry strengthened connections between industry and the federal government. Federal troops breaking up the Great Strike of 1877 highlighted this partnership.
Holtkamp Gervase, Samantha. "transportation in the 19th century." In Waugh, John, and Gary B. Nash, eds. Encyclopedia of American History: Civil War and
Reconstruction, 1856 to 1869, Revised Edition (Volume V). New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?
ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAHV291&SingleRecord=True
(accessed April 10, 2013).
McConnell, Eleanor H. "internal improvements during the antebellum period." In Rohrbough, Malcolm J., and Gary B. Nash, eds. Encyclopedia of American
History: Expansion and Reform, 1813 to 1855, Revised Edition (Volume IV). New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2010. American History Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE52&iPin=EAHIV131&SingleRecord=True (accessed April 9, 2013).