The Railroad The significance of the railroad for the settlement of the Great Plains and for the industrialization of America can hardly be overestimated. In 19th century people used to compare railroad tracks to the blood vessels in mans body, so vital these iron tracks were for the normal functioning of American nation. The first railroad in America was opened in 1826; it united Boston and the town of Quincy. It is very symptomatic that its opening was described as visionary by majority of American newspapers of the time. Unlike many groundbreaking inventions in 19th century, the railroads significance was instantly recognized throughout the nation. This led to the fact that within 10 years 50% of towns in New England were connected with a new mean of transportation.
It automatically resulted in dramatic increase in amount of transported goods, thus contributing to the creation of new jobs and the population growth. It is important to understand that the concept of industrialization consists of several preconditions that make it possible. One of them is fast and reliable transportation system, which allows raw materials to be transported to the factories. For example, the city of Camden in New Jersey had grown double in size in 10 years, after the railroad had been laid through it in 1852. This was primarily the result of 3 textile mills being constructed in this town within the same period of time. War and the technical progress usually follow one another. The America Civil War was not the exception.
The Term Paper on Central America
At the time of the discovery of Central America by Christopher Columbus in 1502, highly civilized Maya and Nahua Indians inhabited the westernmost part of the isthmus. The impressive ruins of Tikal in Guatemala, Copan in Honduras, and Tazumal in El Salvador are relics of that civilization. Panama and most of Costa Rica were occupied by less civilized societies that shared cultural characteristics ...
It boosted Americas industrialization by the war effort of both sides. The year 1869 marks the time when Atlantic and Pacific shores were being linked by the railway for the first time. This was very remarkable achievement, especially comparing to the countries like Russia, which only managed to complete Trans-Siberian railroad by 1916. This is no by accident that the famous Western movies usually involve robbing trains. The conquest of frontier and the expansion of American railroad system are inseparable. Very often, when railroad bypassed towns in the West, the whole towns were being replaced to the new locations, so that they would benefit from having the railroad. Nevertheless, we cant say that the frontier spirit alone, combined with the peoples idealism was the major factor that contributed to the beginning of rapid exploitation of Grand Prairies.
At the beginning of 20th century the new immigrants used to be given 100 hectares of land for free, as long as they were willing to settle in the area of Grand Prairies. This was before the railroad had been laid through this rugged land. Before the railroad had linked towns in the West with the centers of civilization on the East coast, the value of one hectare of land in Nebraska accounted for 50 dollars. In the matter of 10 years the same value for the one hectare of land had risen to 150 dollars, due to the fact that transporting agricultural goods became so much easier, with the establishment of railway. Nowadays we look at frontier era as something that had happened in history and will never happen again. We automatically assume that the technical progress will inevitably add to every outbreak of adventurism.
But, in my opinion, we cant simply rely on the technical progress. As practice shows, every new technological advancement requires peoples willingness to risk their traditional lifestyles. In its turn, this cannot be accomplished without peoples willingness to give up on their traditional customs and cultural values. Only the nation that can unite its citizens with the idea of common good can accomplish this. Back in 19th century, people werent divided racially, like they are in time of Multiculturalism, therefore they were able to act as one. This enabled them to link the two opposite American coasts with the mean of railway.
The Essay on Wave Hill Strike Gurindji Land People
Wave Hill Strike 1966 In August 1966 Gurindji people at Wave Hill cattle station went on strike demanding wages and a return of some of their traditional lands. The demand was rejected but the Gurindji continued to camp on their traditional country at Daguragu - they broke the white man's law but obeyed their own. The campaign was taken up by supporters in Australia's cities and eventually the ...
If contemporary American nation was facing the same challenge, it would probably never be able to succeed, since it is not only the spirit of West that we had lost, but also the basic` biological vitality..
