HIST 2057 Chapter : Five Changes In American Society
Document Summary
These are changes that have made america the country that it is today. It is more culturally diverse, consumer oriented, urban, etc. These changes could have been either good or bad: rise of national business and industrial system. Transportation improvements & new technologies -transportation makes the shift from local business to international business possible. Railroads existed before this period, but they expanded enormously. In just a few decades, the mileage of railroads expanded by over 600%. America"s first big business. there is a large capital. They bought land, tracks, and had to build the actual locomotive. The railroad makes transportation more efficient, faster, and cheaper. In comparison, wagons are very slow and riverboats hold a lot but are slow also. The other options lead to higher shipping costs which in turn made the items shipped more expensive. Everywhere the railroad goes it generates business: lumber mills, towns, national business system, communication, telegraph (companies streamed on tracks).
