Railroads Unite America
The Transcontinental RailroadCompleted in 1869Connected the Atlantic Coast to the Pacific CoastReduced travel time from months to days
By the 1890s, railroads supplied cities and towns with food, fuel, mail, building materials, and access to markets.
Made it faster and cheaper
for homesteaders to settle the plains
Railroads & mail-order merchants made it possible for people in remote rural areas to enjoy
inexpensive consumer goods.
In the West, railroads helped open new territory to economic exploitation
Played a large part in the creation of the first national parks.
Cornelius VanderbiltBuilt a trading company with his own steamships
and expanded to ocean going ships.Gained control of the New York and Harlem
Railroad in 1863Purchased several other railroads and merged
them into one of the first giant corporations in American history.
Built the Grand Central Depot (Grand Central Station today) in 1871
Streamlined railroad service in the U.S.Built up a $100 million fortune (worth about $140
billion today)Founded Vanderbilt University
Railroad “barons” created vast railroad networks and monopolies with free land given by the government: Pacific Railway Act...Raised money by selling many of their land grantsUsed Chinese and Irish immigrants to lay tracks