America
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Growth of the Railway<br />
Historical Significance<br />
Before the railroads, it didn't matter how many of a particular good you could produce. Your<br />
market was mostly local and you couldn't really exceed the local demand. For instance, if you<br />
made shoes for a living, there was no point in making five hundred pairs of shoes when the<br />
local population was only two hundred. Who would buy the extras?<br />
Railroads and, before them river traffic, made it possible to ship goods cheaply. A shoemaking<br />
company in Ohio was able to sell in Chicago and New York and Charleston and New Orleans.<br />
Cattle ranchers in Texas could actually get their cattle to market in the big cities back east. Coal<br />
from Wyoming could be shipped to either coast and from there overseas.<br />
Because the railroads moved the goods cheapest, the owners of railroads had <strong>America</strong>n<br />
industry by the throat. Congress knew this and granted favors to them which made them even<br />
more powerful.
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