What was the impact of the railway on the pioneer's?

Question

i need this for a research paper pronto so if anyone has a good answer answer it!

Answer 1

The railroads of 1800s America literally opened up the ways for westward migration.

Not only did railroads provide transportation, they needed people and goods to transport, so they created their own customer base by providing cheap transportation and in many cases gave away seed to prospective farmers, in reverse "land grabs" gave land to prospective farmers in which to plant the seed or, in the case of the railroads party to the Pacific Railway Act, the Central Pacific and Union Pacific, sold off land acquired by the provisions of that legislation, encouraged ranchers to raise more cattle, even going so far as to reimburse ranchers for cattle that were struck and killed, opened access to the timber industry of the northwest, and built towns all along their routes.  

Many of the towns that sprang up started out being called simply, "end of track," and as the railroads pushed farther west, a great number of "end of track" towns remained and flourished.

The familiar phrase, "Go west, young man" was coined during this period, a period of great opportunity for the adventurous and hapless both.

It was a "win - win" scenario for the railroads, with  transport of people from the east, and goods from the west, including livestock, timber, produce, grain, fruit and other comestibles.  It can be said that the railroads provided access to the "bread basket" of the mid-west, allowed for transportation of its bounty and in large part, populated the plains and had tapped into the vast resources of cheap timber to build all of it with.

Good luck with your paper.

Answer 2

Transportation was much faster.

Answer 3

1. dry goods could be shipped to and from the west

2. people could travel faster compared to the old conastoga wagoons

3. jobs working for the railway

4. lumber could be shipped to the west. (lumber was hard to get in nebraska and wyoming)

5. cattle ranchers were able to ship their cattle to the east  (the cowboys would drive the cattle to one of the major citties like topeka kans. and then the livestock would be loaded on trains.

6. also helped the logistics of the us military in the west.

Answer 4

Meanwhile, back in the UK, the country that invented railways...

One of the chief functions of the railways was to provide transport to & from the seaports to aid the export & import of goods, & likewise the immigration & emigration of people.

By about 1850 major ports like London, Bristol, Liverpool were linked by rail and these were soon joined by Dublin, Cobh, etc. Railways also started to develope in Europe around this time, again linking major industrial centres with seaports.

Emigration to America had been possible in the days of sail but took a great leap forward with the invention of the steam-powered trans-Atlantic liner, of which the first of many was I.K. Brunel's 'Great Britain' of 1843 - the world's first iron-hulled and propeller-driven ship.

In short the pioneers of the 19th century were aided not only by the railways in America itself but those in the UK and Europe, and the connections they provided to the growing marine traffic across the Pond.