Railroads, Industry, and Westward Expansion

Question

Read the chapters on railroads, industry, and westward expansion in your textbook, chapters 24 and 26.  Write a two-page history of the American West as a counterfactual.  Imagine that railroads had never been invented and think about how western history might have developed as a result. 

Solution

                Railroads, Industry, and Westward Expansion

Considering the speed with which railroads came dominated the transport system that formed the foundation for the national market, it’s not surprising that most historians concluded that th canal’s construction was a failure. Railroads were such a dominating means of transportation in the US in the nineteenth century that it seemed evident that they were instrumental in its fast economic development. This study envisions how western history could have unfolded if the railroad hadn’t been built.

The most transportation system in the US constituted of canals in the early 19th century; thus, this means of transportation would have been developed America in the railroads never existed. Since the rise of flatboats and steamboats,  spread across the US in the early 1820s, canal mileage in the country had already expanded from 100 to almost 3,300 miles over the following two decades. Canals were already beneficial not only to business but also to interpersonal interactions. Even before the dominance of the railroads, canals had also contributed to the development of various places, including New York City, by facilitating the exchange of technologies, labor, and, most crucially, money and resources.……………for help with this assignment contact us via email Address: consulttutor10@gmail.com

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