1. The Age of the American Railroad

2. When did the railroad become a national phenomenon?
May 10, 1869
The Transcontinental Railroad
Completed at Promontory Point, Utah

3. What was the reality of the railroad?
Cheap labor
Chinese, Irish, and Confederate veterans are hired to work on the railroads
Casualties
2,000 men die and 20,000 men are injured in railroad construction ANNUALLY
Racism
Average wages and hours
Minorities…$35/month & 80 hours/week
Whites…$45/month & 50 hours/week

4. What did railroads do to time?
Railroad Time
1883 the U.S. adopts 4 time zones
24 times zones are then created for the world
Each time zone is 15 degrees latitude wide
Standard Time
1919 adopted world wide…still in use today

5. How did railroads change the U.S.?
New towns
Businesses pop up alongside the tracks and soon become towns, then cities, then megalopolises
Examples: Minneapolis, Seattle, and Denver
Opportunity
Track side stands grow into massive businesses and create some of America’s massively wealthy citizens

6. What types of problems did railroads encounter?
Corruption
Overcharging
Farmers are overcharged (it cost more to ship good from Chicago to Detroit that from London to New York)
Credit Mobilizer
Company that raises railroad ticket prices and profits off hikes
Granger Laws
Attempt to end railroad discrimination and abuse
Munn vs. Illinois uphold these laws and help to bring railroads down
Interstate Commerce Act
1887
Limited and regulated railroad business practices
Panic of 1893
Economic depression that also demonstrates the power and influence of the railroad big business