美国铁路建设历程(railroad_expansion_in_america).ppt

Railroad Expansion in America: 1865-1895 America’s Engine of Economic Growth Railroad Mileage 1860: 30,000+ Miles 1900: 193,346 Miles Railroads standardized track width, signals, air brakes. U.S. Government Invests in Railroads To contribute to cost of building, U.S. offered land grants 129 million acres or 7% of continental U.S. Worth 13% of U.S. economy, $1.9 trillion (in 2010 dollars) Railroads sold surplus lands and attracted settlers to the west. Railroads Attract Riders Railroads advertised for riders to the West. Visitors to new national parks Immigrants to settle surplus land grants Railroads also courted businesses to ship their goods to market by rail. Railroads Contributed to Growth of U.S. Industries U.S. Steel production grew dramatically 1875-1920. Before 1875 little steel manufactured Railroads purchased iron rails Modern processes led to cheaper manufacture of more durable steel rails. Production rose from 360,000 tons to 60 million tons Coal field supplied coke to make steel Bankers supplied credit to railroads Financial Funny Business Leads to Chaos Panic of 1873 (economic depression) caused by failure of Jay Cooke’s bank-heavily invested in railroad bonds. Led to failure of many banks, NY Stock exchange closed. 18,000 businesses failed, unemployment reached 14% between 1873-75. Panic of 1893 (economic depression) caused by overbuilding of railroads. Philadelphia-Reading RR filed for bankruptcy Bank failures followed, and more railroads filed for bankruptcy Unemployment reached as high as 19%. Two Railroad Magnates * * Railroad Map of 1870 1893 ad encouraging visitors to the Chicago World Fair to go further west to Yellowstone Ad encouraging German immigrants to settle in Kansas Cornelius Vanderbilt Vanderbilt’s competitor, Jay Gould