19th Century Urbanization

Travelling and transporting goods were very inconvenient before railroads were built in 19th-century. According to Stephen Slavin, “Before railroads, shipping a ton of goods 400 miles could easily quadruple the price. But by rail, the same ton of goods could be shipped in a fraction of the time and one-twentieth of the cost.”1. These made the economies of the American West bad and difficult to improve. John Steele Gordon describes it as: “there really was no "American economy." Instead there was a myriad of local ones. Most food was consumed locally, and most goods were locally produced by artisans such as blacksmiths. The railroads changed all that in less than 30 years.”2 This implies that the development of the railroad had very important
At first, only few people traveled west as lone pioneers, but after that, more people migrated to the west in groups and establish communities once they arrived.4 As this happened, the western population experienced extraordinary growth especially for the cities that stood at the crossroads of inter-regional trade. The railroad was the major reason for the increase of the population as it opened vast new areas of the American interior to settlement. As a result of the population growth, Eric Foner points out that “urban merchants, bankers, and master craftsmen took advantage of the economic opportunities created by the expanding market among commercial farmers.”5 The drive among these businessmen to increase production and reduce labor costs fundamentally affect the American
It was the major reason the settlers rushed into what was previously considered a desert wasteland.12 This settlement caused population growth, which lead to the economic development of the American West. The white settlers, African-American settler and Chinese railroad worker were the main reason for the increase of the population of the west. In the article "The American West, 1865-1900" published in Library of Congress website, the author reports, “White settlers from the East poured across the Mississippi to mine, farm, and ranch. African-American settlers also came West from the Deep South, convinced by promoters of all-black Western towns that prosperity could be found there. Chinese railroad workers further added to the diversity of the region's population.”13 As the population raised, the economy also developed linearly. Hence, the railroad supported economic growth of the American West because of the west