IUIF - Railroads (Lesson)
Railroads
By the end of the 19th century, the railroad industry had emerged as the largest industry in the United States. The railroad industry spawned massive partnerships with other industries to bring about a new wave of an industrial revolution to the United States.
Railroads
At the conclusion of the Civil War, the positive impact railroads had on the success of the North was evident. At the time of the Civil War the industrialized North had an intricate system of standardized rails. The South was far behind in railroad infrastructure as compared to the North because of their refusal to change their use of deep rivers to transport their crops to market and their refusal to shift their focus from agriculture to industrial production. When Union forces controlled and destroyed the South’s railroad non-standard infrastructure, their ability to ship supplies and men was diminished and thus signaled an end for the Southern society as they knew it.
After the Civil War and the standardization of railroad tracks, the railroad industry boomed nationwide. With the help of the steel and oil industry, the number of miles of railroad tracks dramatically increased, allowing the United States to be more connected than they were prior Civil War. The interconnectedness allowed for Northern industrial growth to reach markets throughout the United States.
Steel
One of the major components of the railroad industry’s growth was the mass production of steel. The mass production of steel was possible because of new techniques which increased the efficiency of steel production, lowered the cost of manufacturing and actually improved product quality. The result was that railroad companies laid millions of miles of steel tracks with a cheaper, stronger product. The railroad industry spurred steel production, and cheaper production of steel directly resulted in further growth of railroads. Furthermore, with the production increase and availability of steel, new markets for steel emerged such as for high-rise buildings only furthering the nation’s dependence on steel and the use of railroads to transport it.
Oil
Railroads also impacted the oil industry. As people moved west they were exposed to more opportunities to drill for oil. The oil in turn was used for markets in the east. Railroads became the major transportation for the supply of oil for industrial use and refinery in the Northeast. New industries were born from the availability of oil. Both the steel industry and the oil industry had a symbiotic relationship with railroads and was a relationship that benefited all three industries.
Pullman Sleeping Car Company
George Pullman created a company that complemented the railroad boom. His company, the Pullman Sleeping Car Company, developed passenger cars for rail travel. The company originally produced luxurious passenger cars to make rail travel more comfortable and later expanded to include refrigerated cars and kitchen cars. The Pullman Sleeping Car Company is a great example of the impact of the growth of numerous industries as a result of the oil and steel boom. Using the link below, discover how each of the following materials could have been utilized by the Pullman Sleeping Car Company:
- Wood
- Glass
- Cloth
- Leather
- Steel
- Oil