u.s. history a.p. the gilded age – part i
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U.S. History A.P. The Gilded Age – Part I. The Growth of American Railroads. Photo credit: http://www.twmag.com/images/blogger/exploding_train_engine.gif. - PowerPoint PPT PresentationTRANSCRIPT
U.S. History A.P.The Gilded Age – Part I
The Growth of American Railroads
Photo credit: http://www.twmag.com/images/blogger/exploding_train_engine.gif
The first “rail” roads were build in England in the 17th century as a way to
reduce friction in moving heavily loaded wheeled vehicles. The first “rail” road was
built in America in 1764 .
These railroads were aka “gravity roads.” The rail was installed on a downhill slope. Loaded cars traveled down the slope with
the force of gravity. Mules returned empty cars up the slope.
John Stevens is considered to be the father of American railroads. The first railroad charter in North America was granted to
Stevens in 1815.
John Stevens locomotive and circular track
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• difficult and costly to build
Early Railroad Problems
Early railroads required surveys, maps, planning and expensive construction.
Wrought iron rusted, and had to be replaced.
• short lines (< 50 miles) leading “nowhere to nothing”
Early Railroad Problems
• lack of standard gauge
• single tracks
• constant threat of collision
The “DeWitt Clinton”
Photo credit: http://www.lakemirabel.com/Railroad/DewittClinton.jpg
The Bessemer Process, patented by Henry
Bessemer of England, was the first inexpensive
industrial process for mass producing steel.
This revolutionized the railroad industry.
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Addressing the Problems: Expense
Steel rails were stronger than iron rails and could bear more weight.
They also did not rust.
Bessemer Process
In the Bessemer process compressed air is blown into the bottom of a converter, a furnace shaped like a cement mixer, containing molten pig iron. The excess carbon in the iron burns out, other
impurities form a slag, and the furnace is emptied by tilting.
Photo credit: http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/encyclopaedia/hutchinson/m0016421.html
George Westinghouse invented and
manufactured a compressed-air braking system, later inventing a reverse-acting fail-safe
system that remains standard on railroads
today.
Addressing the Problems: Safety
George Pullman introduced luxury into railroad travel with his sleeping car in 1864 and his separate dining car
in 1868.
Addressing the Problems: Comfort
Pullman Luxury
Comfort Car Pullman Sleeper
The first transcon-tinental railroad was planned before the Civil War through the territory acquired via the Mexican War and the Gadsden Purchase. The location of choice was more “flat” than any other, and appeased the Southern states. These plans were “scrapped” by the Civil War.
Transcontinental Railroad
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The wartime Congress pursued plans for a transcontinental railroad to connect Omaha,
Nebraska and Sacramento, California.
Transcontinental Railroad
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Transcontinental Railroad
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The Union Pacific Railroad moved westward from Omaha, employing mainly Irish laborers.
The Central Pacific Railroad moved eastward from Sacramento and employed over 7,000 Chinese immigrants at $1.00 each per day.
Transcontinental Railroad
The job was harsh and brutal. There were over 1,200 deaths due to accidents alone.
Chinese workers
Transcontinental Railroad
The federal government provided loans of money and grants of land for each mile of railroad built.
-$16,000 to $48,000 per mile for each mile of track laid (based upon the terrain)
- up to 20 square miles of land per each mile of track laid
Transcontinental Railroad
Transcontinental Railroad
The tracks were joined at
Promontory Point, Utah on
May 10, 1869.
Transcontinental Railroad
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Society changed.
The building of other “transcon-tinental” railroads rapidly
progressed.
Transcontinental Railroad
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• lands west of the Mississippi river.
Societal Effects of the Railroad
The railroads led to the development of …
• the area and population of towns and cities along the new rail lines.
• a transportation network for people and goods.
• a flow of economic activity between raw materials, growing industries and growing cities.
(Related industries grew at a phenomenal rate. Productivity increased x 12 in 50 years!)
• the U. S. Mail service (goodbye Pony Express).
Societal Effects of the Railroad
The railroads led to …
• the mail order industry (Sears-Roebuck, Montgomery-Wards, J.C. Penney)
• a stronger western military presence.
• increased conflicts between whites and native Americans.
Railroad Standard Time was adopted by the railroad in
1883 (by the nation in 1918) creating
the four time zones used on the
mainland today.
Societal Effects of the Railroad
The railroads changed our concept of time!!!The railroads changed our concept of time!!!
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