Why Is It Important To Establish The Industrial Revolution?

In 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act, allowing the construction of a transcontinental railroad. This started the Industrial Revolution by igniting a new need for innovation. Work on the railroad started right away, but there was an enormous pressure on the railroad companies to finish so the railroad would be functional. The desire for completion caused an accelerated Industrial Revolution because railroad companies needed to develop new inventions, allow for a growth in industry, and establish a new free market.
The railroad companies, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific, needed new inventions so they could overcome basic engineering problems. They were given millions of dollars by the government to aid in construction, and they also had investors so the railroad had a steady supply of funds. They used this money to obtain new devices by paying inventors to come up with solutions to their problems, which made the inventors work faster to produce more labor saving solutions. With the machines that the inventors produced,
John Rockefeller, owner of the Standard Oil Company, was in charge of the oil industry, and became the richest man in the United States at the time from all the business he received from the railroad. Andrew Carnegie also became wealthy with the steel that he produced for the railroad. With this influx of money, these industries were able to not only better the health of the economy, but use this money to help improve their factories and machines. With these positive improvements, they were able to mass produce and sell more goods to increase profits even more. With this steady source of materials, the railroad construction speed was further increased, which brought the United States closer to a connection that would benefit the economy of the entire