Should The Railroad Be Considered The Most Revolutionary Economic Development Of The 19th Century?

Railroads should be considered one of the most revolutionary economic developments of the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Railroads needed to carry as much product as possible to make a profit. This lead to the construction of “feeder lines” that connected smaller cities to the main “trunk lines” that serviced the big cities. The growth of the railroads also increased steel production, coal mining, and technological breakthroughs like the air brake and Pullman sleeping car (Hawksworth, 2001). Unionization was one of the major social developments of the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Unions were the workers response to big corporations. Early labor leaders pushed for an eight hour work day, an end to child