The Effects of the Transcontinental Rail Road

 The Effects of the Transcontinental Railroad
Maddie Williams

After the railroad was built America was able to move people and goods from San Francisco to New York in one week. After the first ten years 50 million dollars worth of trade had been shipped from coast to coast. The railroad opened up the pathway for eastern goods to be available to the populace that was spreading beyond the Mississippi. The middle land was explored for ways of production and manufacturing.Springing off of the railroad was a web of other railroads that were shorter and extended to the north and south. These allowed transportation from state to state and town to town.  The transformation that came along with the railroad was not accepted by all. Native Americans were then forced onto reservations in the years to come. Buffalo were hunted in mass and their hides were shipped back to the east. The buffalo population was opened up to the public and as it diminished the animal was easier for a hunter to spot.This depleted the Native American's source of food and clothing. The Transcontinental Railroad was manifest destiny that was wrought in iron and moving from coast to coast. 

Being a business owner in the 1800's had its pros and cons. Since the train had to make stops the shop owners who had a business forefront near the train station had a large amount of business coming from the load of people on the train. The only problem with this was that the large amounts of business only came in shifts and sometimes there weren't large amounts of people on the train. Sometimes it was freight that passed through the towns. Business owners could not get any profit of of a train carrying freight.

source: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tcrr-impact/