The completion of the first transcontinental railroad revolutionized travel, connecting areas of the Western United States with the East. Prior to its completion, traveling to the West Coast from the East required months of dangerous overland travel or an arduous trip by boat around the southern tip of South America.
How did the railroad contribute to problems faced by farmers?
Many attributed their problems to discriminatory railroad rates, monopoly prices charged for farm machinery and fertilizer, an oppressively high tariff, an unfair tax structure, an inflexible banking system, political corruption, corporations that bought up huge tracks of land.
Who benefited most from the transcontinental railroad?
The entire United States benefited financially from the joining of two railroads to form one transcontinental railroad. However, two industries benefited the most from the Transcontinental Railroad. Those were cotton and cattle.
How were farmers helped by the transcontinental railroad and the Homestead Act?
The Transcontinental Railroad also commercialized parts of the agricultural west. Forcibly relocating dozens of Native American tribes and seizing their land opened land for pioneer farmers. Areas of the Great Plains that were previously considered unsuitable for farming were reallocated by the Homestead Act of 1862.
How did the grangers who were largely poor farmers do battle with the giant railroad companies?
How did the Grangers, who were largely poor farmers, do battle with the giant railroad companies? Answer: The farmers took political action in one united front. They pressed legislators to pass laws to protect them.
How did the Transcontinental Railroad benefit farmers?
How were farmers impacted by industrialization?
New technology, including chemicals and larger tractors, allowed farmers to work larger areas of land with less labor. Government policies encouraged farmers to scale up their operations. Farmers were also motivated by economies of scale—the economic advantage of producing larger numbers of products.
Why did farmers dislike the transcontinental railroad?
The Complaints of FarmersThey generally blamed low prices on over-production. Second, farmers alleged that monopolistic railroads and grain elevators charged unfair prices for their services. Government regulation was the farmers' solution to the problem of monopoly.
How did railroads hurt the small farmer?
Differential Freight RatesThus, farmers felt that the higher transportation costs they were forced to pay and which made agriculture less rewarding were in order to subsidize the industrial interests they increasingly detested.
How did the Grangers help farmers?
The Granger Laws were promoted primarily by a group of farmers known as The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry. The main goal of the Granger was to regulate rising fare prices of railroad and grain elevator companies after the American Civil War.
Why were farmers upset with the railroads and the wealthy?
First, farmers claimed that farm prices were falling and, as a consequence, so were their incomes. They generally blamed low prices on over-production. Second, farmers alleged that monopolistic railroads and grain elevators charged unfair prices for their services.