The Role Of Transportation In America During The Late 19th Century

In today’s America, many people may take for granted the ease of access to reliable and efficient transportation. Americans have access to private cars, commercial airplanes and trains, and even buses. An individual can fly from San Francisco to New York City in less than six hours. The average American does not know of a time when traveling from coast-to-coast was a journey requiring days or weeks to travel, often through harsh and unfriendly terrains. These conditions happened not so long ago, before commercial air and automobile travel. The development of railroads in America during the mid to late 19th century had a profound impact on the growth and development of the country by making personal travel easier, which in turn impacted the growth of corporations, changed how Americans perceive time and promoted the diffusion of technology and ideas throughout American society.
A trip that had previously taken several weeks to complete could now be completed in several days. Essentially, the expansion of railroads made longer distances seem shorter; enabling Americans to more readily move across the country and explore new and exciting lands. There was growing excitement as “Americans in all parts of the country had access to citizens from cities that in previous decades would have been out of reach” (Balliet 10). Americans now had an entirely new perception of time because of the drastic difference in travel times. These new developments evoked an array of emotions from American citizens, as they watched in awe as new technologies made the seemingly impossible, possible. Even critics could agree that this new and efficient means of travel could offer an endless array of possibilities in business, personal advancement, and technology (Usselman