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Ch. 14 Sec. 2

Ch. 14 Sec. 2. The Age of Railroads. Railroads Span Time and Space. Railroads make local transit reliable and westward expansion possible. Governments provide large land grants for railroads to build upon. National Network.

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Ch. 14 Sec. 2

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  1. Ch. 14 Sec. 2 The Age of Railroads

  2. Railroads Span Time and Space • Railroads make local transit reliable and westward expansion possible. • Governments provide large land grants for railroads to build upon.

  3. National Network • The transcontinental railroad makes one single rail line from east to west. • The trans. railroad is completed in 1869. • Regional railroads multiply across the country.

  4. Romance And Reality • Because of railroads, many dream of having land out west. • Railroad is very dangerous for workers including many Chinese and Irish Immigrants. • Dangers include attacks from Native Americans and thousands of work-related accidents.

  5. Railroad Time • Before railroads, there is no standard time. • Railroads support Prof. Dowd’s plan of 4 time zones - Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific. • Eventually all American adopt the standard time zones.

  6. Opportunities and Opportunists • Railroads help the growth of many related industries like iron, coal, steel, lumber, and gas. • Railroads also help the growth of new towns and markets. • Railroad companies explode in number and in the amount of scandal.

  7. New Towns and Markets • Most cities and towns are linked with railroads. • Cities like Chicago grow as their products can reach distant markets. • New cities like Denver, Colorado pop up all throughout the west because of the railroads.

  8. Pullman • George Pullman develops a fully-enclosed community for the people who work on his sleeper cars. • All aspects of a worker are controlled not being able to stand on their front steps or drinking. • Strict controls on workers pay leads to a violent strike in 1894.

  9. Credit Mobilier • Corruption becomes a large problem with large railroad companies. • Stockholders in the Credit Mobilier company overcharge for track construction and pocket the money. • Many high-ranking government officials including the Vice-President of the US and many Congressmen.

  10. The Grange and the Railroads • Farmers are angry with the railroad companies because of misuse of their power. • Farmers organize against the railroad in an organization called the Grangers.

  11. Railroad Abuses • RR companies sell land grants to businesses instead of farmers. • RR Comps. work together to fix prices at a high rate. • They charge higher rates if they are the only RR option.

  12. Granger Laws • Grangers take political action against RR’s by sponsoring local candidates and pushing for favorable legislation. • States create laws to regulate RR’s. This is upheld by the Supreme Court decision Munn v. Illinois. • The federal government stepping in to regulate private industry is a very important precedent.

  13. Interstate Commerce Act • Interstate Commerce Act (1887) established a 5 member committee, Interstate Commerce Committee, (ICC) to regulate interstate commerce like RR’s. • Later Supreme court rules that the ICC cannot regulate RR rates.

  14. Panic and Consolidation • Many RR’s go bankrupt because of corporate abuses, mismanagement, overbuilding, and competition. • Financial trouble of the RR’s pushes the whole country in to an economic depression. • Most of the RR companies are bought up by financial institutions like those owned by JP Morgan.

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