THE GROWTH OF INDUSTRY Riding the Rails. Focus Question What role should government take in the economy?

THE GROWTH OF INDUSTRYRiding the Rails

Focus Question• What role should government take in the economy?

Industrialization• What factors are necessary for Industrialization to occur?

Factors of Industrialization• Natural Resources• Labor• Capital• Transportation Networks

• Markets• Technological Innovation• Land

Industrial Growth• The late 19th Century saw an explosion in Industrial

Growth in the U.S.• Vast supply of capital from war profits• Stronger financial system in U.S. (National Banking Act)• Expansion of higher education through the Morrill Land

Grant Colleges

Transcontinental Railroad

• Finally came into being through the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862• Connected Omaha to Sacramento• Chartered two companies:

the Union Pacific RR

the Central Pacific RR

Role of the U.S. Government

• Required heavy assistance from the government• Distances too vast• Required too much money for any one company

• Could not be built without government aid

Massive Subsidies

Both received heavy subsidies• Massive land grants

• Right of way along tracks• Ten square miles for each mile of track laid

• Loans• $16K per mile in the plains• $32K per mile in the plateaus• $48K per mile in the mountains

Faced Difficulties• Maintaining a workforce

• Union Pacific hired largely Irish• Central Pacific hired largely Chinese

• Protecting workforce from attack

Physical Difficulty• Faced vast distances in the Plains• Faced the rugged Sierra Nevada

The Meeting• Met at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869

Sponsored New Industries• Cattle Industry and Cowboys• Lumber Industry• Shipping Industry and Mail Order Houses• The Steel Industry

Transformed Society• Brought settlers and trade west• Promoted city growth• Led to the development of time zones

Led to Abuses• Vast sums of unregulated money tempted corruption

• Credit Mobilier Scandal• Growth of monopolies• Abuse of freight rates• Stock Watering

• Begged for Regulation