US History - Section 1 Economic growth and the rise of corporations

Between 1959 and 1899, what did the value of manufactured products rise to ?

• Rose by 622 % - from $1.8 Billion to $13 Billion

What were the reasons for Industrial development taking place ?

• Improved communications (In particular the development of Railroads which made it possible to exploit natural resources)

• USA was growing through Westward expansion and massive migration - millions moved to the USA from both Europe and Asia (And forcibly Africa) - Congress was willing to impose high tariffs to protect domestic industry by keeping out cheaper imports

• Optimism - this encourage risk - taking and entrepreneurship - successful industrialists like Andrew Carnegie and J.P Morgan were far more celebrated as role models than politicians

How many miles of track was laid between 1830 and 1870 and how much more followed 20 years later ?

• 40,000 miles of track were laid

• 20 years later there was 110,000 miles

What year was the first transcontinental railway completed by ?

1869

How many railways were there by 1900 ?

5

What was the growth of railroads facilitated by ?

• Massive land grants from the federal government - up to 240,000 square miles which would be sold off to settlers once the railway was completed

What did the introduction of railroads lead to And what were they responsible for ?

• Introduction of common time zones across the USA (1883) - they were indirectly responsible for the Development of transcontinental telegraph system - the stations followed the railroads