A Smaller WorldWith the completion of the line from San Francisco to Omaha, which connected to existing Eastern lines, the United States had easy access to the West. Before the Transcontinental Railroad, it took several months and almost a thousand dollars to make the trek by wagon, not to mention the danger involved. A ticket on the Transcontinental Railroad cost $65 for emigrant benches and a mere seven days. Truly, Manifest Destiny was wrought in iron.
Grand Valley State University Associate Professor of American History Kathleen Underwood, talking about the effects of the Railroad on American lives.
California grew especially quickly, as people rushed in to San Francisco to mine and farm.
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Economic GrowthThe railroad helped interstate commerce immensely. Only a year after it was completed, fifty million dollars of freight was shipped every year on the railroad. Railroads also increased the value of land. In Illinois, land previously valued at $1.25 was worth $25 in just four years. This also happened in the West, caused mainly by mining and agriculture. By 1880, the land distributed to the railroad companies was worth almost $400,000,000, and by 1900 four other railroads were built across the West, driving land prices up even more. However, railroad companies often charged ridiculously high rates to move farmers' goods, and the farmers had no choice but to pay them, because of railroad companies' monopoly. Thus, railroad companies grew rich, while farmers stayed poor.
Grand Valley State University Associate Professor of American History Kathleen Underwood, talking about the global effects of the Railroad.
This graph shows that as multiple Transcontinental Railroads were built, with many more spurs as well, more land was farmed and mined.
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