Between 1860 and 1900, the United States saw unprecedented economic expansion. The development of railways and other modes of transportation was a major contribution to this prosperity since it expanded the market for commodities, inspired economic success in other markets, and provided new possibilities.
How and why did transportation advances in the United States spur economic expansion between 1860 and 1900?
Specifically, via expanding goods markets.
The widespread development of railways, steamships, and the infrastructure that connected and supported them made it economically viable to sell your products to clients across the continent and even internationally.
As a result, as a producer, you were no longer completely reliant on local demand. This enabled those who could create things most effectively to do so and meet more of the world’s demand, enhancing overall efficiency and driving down the relative price of those items.
One significant impact on the American way of life was the ability to set up systems in which raw materials were extracted in one location and shipped in a relatively raw state to a completely different location where the infrastructure or other required elements for processing those materials into finished goods was more readily available.
For example, ore may be mined in one area and conveyed by rail to a site with adequate electric power to run the smelters, with the resulting metal ingots loaded onto ships and transported to factories where they were processed into completed commodities.
This was just not conceivable in any large-scale manner prior to the invention of modern transportation.
In the second part of the nineteenth century, railways were critical to economic expansion. They not only made it feasible to carry agricultural and manufactured commodities throughout the nation cheaply and effectively, but they also aided the growth of other businesses.
Laissez-faire government policy.
Railroads and canals soon crisscrossed the cuntry, creating a transportation infrastructure that fuelled the expansion of American trade. Indeed, the transportation revolution fueled growth in the coal, iron, and steel sectors, creating new work possibilities for many Americans.
How has the growth of train transportation benefited American farmers the most? By increasing the cost of agricultural goods to consumers.
https://bowie1983book.com/ will answer how and why did transportation developments spark economic growth during the period from 1860 to 1900 in the united states?