Chapter 19 The Growth of Industry

Section 1 Railroads Lead the Way 1869 – 1900

During the Civil War, trains carried troops, weapons, and supplies to the front lines. After the Civil War, railroads became the driving force behind America’s economic growth.

1. Railroad Expansion By the 1890s five major railway lines crossed America. The expansion of the railroad system was accompanied by consolidation in the industry.

Large railroad companies expanded by buying smaller ones or driving them out of business. Soon only a few very powerful individuals called railroad barons controlled the nation’s railroads.

A. Railroad Barons Cornelius Vanderbilt controlled the New York Central Railroad. His railroad empire went from New York City to the Great Lakes.

Cornelius Vanderbilt

Vanderbilt’s house in New York

James Hill built the Great Northern Line between Minnesota and Washington State. Collis P. Huntington and Leland Stanford built the Central Pacific between California and Utah.

James Hill

Collis P. Huntington

Leland Stanford

2. Railroads Stimulate the Economy Trains helped the economy by carrying materials like iron ore, coal, and timber to factories. From the factories the trains carried manufactured goods to market.

They also transported produce from farms to the cities. The railroad industry stimulated the steel, lumber, and the coal industries and provided work for thousands of people.

A. Improving the Railroads Railroad tracks were first built different sizes. By the 1886s a standard gauge of 4 feet long, 8.5 inches wide became the set width of all tracks.

B. Railroad Technology George Westinghouse devised air brakes that made train travel safer. Eli H. Janney invented an easier way for workers to link cars together.

George Westinghouse

Eli H. Janney’s Car- Coupling

Gustavus Swift invented the refrigerated railroad car, enabling the railroads to ship perishable goods to further locations. George M. Pullman developed the Pullman sleeping car and improved the dinning cars.

Gustavus Swift

Refrigerated railcar

George M. Pullman

Pullman sleeping car

Sleeping car

Dinning Car

C. Competing for Customers Railroads offered secret discounts called rebates to their biggest customers. Smaller railroad companies that could not match these deals were often forced out of business.

To offset these deals railroad companies raised the prices on people shipping goods. Railroad barons also made agreement between themselves, known as pools.

They divided the business among themselves and set rates for regions, with no other competition the barons set whatever rates they wanted and become even wealthier. Congress passed laws to regulate the railroads, but railroad barons ignored them.

3. Railroads Change America The railroad network allowed America’s industry to move west. The railroads also allowed thousands of Americans to move from the cities to the rural areas.

Railroads affected the way Americans thought about time. Americans began measuring distances by how many hours a trip would take instead of by miles.

The railroad system led to a national system of time with 4 different time zones. The railroad opened the entire United States to settlement and economic growth.