American Railroads 1860 1900
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The Spark of Industrial Growth: Railroads
1860- 1900
As the Civil War drew to a close, the American economy began to go through remarkable changes, with America's manufacturing value rising from almost two billion dollars in 1859 to over fourteen billion dollars in 1899. This tremendous change in the economy can be mostly linked to the dramatic increase in railroads. At the end of the Civil War, less then 35, 000 miles of track for railroads existed. By 1900, America had 193,000 miles of tracks. With the increase in the number of tracks, the whole trend of American economics shifted and touched the lives of virtually every American. The development of the railroads themselves mainly relied on four important factors: labor, land, money, and steel. At the close of the nineteenth century, these resources were widely available, therefore making railroads the first big business in the nation.
With the outburst of railroad building, a market of a national scale was created, which triggered mass production and mass consumption. The goods needed for railroads caused a need for many factory workers. In the past, the majority of American production included textiles, clothing, and leather goods...