THE AGE OF RAILROADS Chapter 14 Section 2 What do you think are the effects of the Rapid Growth of Railroads? Rapid Growth of Railroads Railroads Span Time and Space Understanding how important railroads were for settling the West
and developing the country, the government made huge land grants and loans to the railroad companies. A d s v e m A Fresh n a e
t r ure D Start Immigrants n i a r r e T
s u o r e *The Central Pacific h c a Railroad reemployed T e v i
t thousands of Chinese a N y immigrants. b s k s c n a *The UnionA Pacific
c tta i r e e Railroad hired IrishAm s a e s immigrants and i D &
desperate, out of s t n work Civil War e d i c veteransA toclay track RAILROAD TIME TIME
Professor C.F. Dowd New Towns and Markets Chicago = Stockyards Because of the linking of cities, towns and settlements, the railroads promoted trade and interdependence. Individual towns began to specialize in particular products Minneapolis = Grain
George M. Pullman In 1880, Pullman built a factory for manufacturing sleepers and other railroad cars on the Illinois prairie. City of Pullman, Illinois Pullman Strike, 1894 The Grange and Railroads The Grangers members of the Grange, a
farmers organization founded in 1867 began demanding governmental control over the railroad industry. Railroad Abuses suse of government land gran formal Agreements to fix pric
Charged different customers different prices Granger Laws Grangers sponsored state and local political candidates, elected legislators, and successfully pressed for laws to protect their interests. In 1871 Illinois authorized a commission to establish maximum freight and passenger rates and prohibit discrimination. Railroads fought back, questioning the constitutionality of the regulatory laws, in Munn vs. Illinois, 1877
The Interstate Commerce Act, 1877 In 1886, the Supreme Court ruled that a state could not set rates on interstate commerce! In response to public outcry, Congress passed the Interstate Commerce Act in 1877
This act re-established the right of the federal government to supervise railroad activities and established a 5 member committee. (ICC) The Interstate Commerce Act, 1877 The ICC had difficulty regulating railroad rates because of a long legal process, and resistance from the railroads.
The final blow to the commission came in 1897 when the SC ruled that it could not set maximum Not until 1906, under Theodore Roosevelt did the ICC railroad rates. gain the power it needed to be effective.
Panic & Consolidation Railroads financial problems played a major role in a nationwide economic collapse! The Panic of 1893 was the worst depression up to that time!
By the end of 1893, around 600 banks and 15,000 businesses failed, and by 1895, 4 million people had lost their jobs! By the middle of 1894, 25% of the nations railroad companies had been taken over by financial companies! JP Morgan & Company reorganized the railroads. What are the effects of the Rapid Growth of Railroads?
Rapid Growth of Railroads Regulation of Industry Growth of Towns and Cities Creation of a Nationwide Market
Rapid Growth of Railroads Corruption Consolidatio n of Railroads Exit Ticket How did the growth of railroads affect peoples everyday lives? How did it
affect farmers?
