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History of
Railroads from the Industrial Revolution
& the Civil War
The
Industrial Revolution in America -
The Industrial Revolution occurred first
in England in the 1700s. The Industrial
Revolution is defined as the making of
products by machine rather than by hand.
Today, a large part of the world is
industrialised. The U.S.A. had very
little industry before 1840. Almost the
entire population worked on individual
farms, and relatively few lived in east
coast cities. The railroad changed the
U.S.A. from a chiefly agricultural
country into an industrialised nation.
At
first the U.S.A. imported iron
locomotives and iron for rails from
England. These purchases were expensive,
and the U.S.A. resented buying anything
from England, after having just fought
the Revolutionary War and the War of
1812. The U.S.A. wanted to begin its own
iron industry to build locomotives and
furnish iron for rails. Mines for coal
and iron ore were started, as well as
factories. The railroads were built to
haul coal and iron ore to the factories
and then bought the finished products
for locomotives, rails, wheels and
bridges. These purchases encouraged
further growth, and soon other customers
took advantage of the emerging growth of
United States industry. When the
factories introduced the Bessemer
process to remove the impurities from
iron to make steel, the railroads were
the best customers.
At the
same time, the railroads needed cloth
for car upholstery and curtains and wood
for both body and cars, not to mention
railroad ties for tracks. Railroads were
the largest hotel keepers, with sleeping
cars run by the Pullman company, and
they also purchased all kinds of other
products. In fact, the railroad industry
accounted for 40% of all printing,
except for newspapers, before the Civil
War.
It can
be argued that the railroad began the
industrial revolution that made the
U.S.A. an economic giant today.
Immigration - Most of the population
of the U.S.A. consists of people from
other places. Many came willingly from
Asia and Europe to seek fortune and
freedom, while others came from Africa
unwillingly as slaves. Over 1 million
people came from Europe during colonial
times, but during the Revolutionary War
and the War of 1812, immigration
remained at a standstill. In fact, the
Napoleonic wars were going on in Europe
at that time.
From Ireland - The first important
immigration after the Napoleonic Wars
began with the Irish people. They wanted
to flee political oppression, and later,
from a potato famine that spread
throughout the island. The people fled
for both freedom and food. At the same
time, the railroads began to lay track
in the 1820s and 1830s. Large numbers of
labourers were needed to build tunnels
and bridges and almost move mountains.
The railroads welcomed the Irish as
workers, and some railroads even helped
pay their passage over to the U.S.A.
After building the railroads, many
immigrants stayed on to become
engineers, brakemen, and agents. Others
took the money they earned and bought
farms alongside the railroads they
built.
From Germany - During the 1850s, the
Illinois Central RR advertised in
Germany for workers to build its
railroad. There were political problems
in Europe, and laws prevented second and
third sons from inheriting a farm or
business property. So they came to
America, built the railroad, and stayed
on as farmers.
From Germany, Scandinavia, and China -
When the Central Pacific and Union
Pacific RRs built the first
transcontinental railroad, they
advertised and encouraged immigration.
The Union Pacific advertised in over
1,000 German and Scandinavian newspapers
for people to migrate to America and
settle on farmland in Nebraska, Wyoming,
and Utah. The Central Pacific went to
Asia to recruit Chinese to build its
railroad. They, too, settled in the
U.S.A. Shortly afterward, the Northern
Pacific recruited more Chinese, and the
Santa Fe Railroad encouraged people to
come from Russia. The Great Northern RR
brought Scandinavians to farm on the
northern plains of Minnesota, North
Dakota, and into Montana, Idaho, and the
Pacific Northwest. This immigration
pattern encouraged others to come from
Europe. If they did not want to farm,
they could live in cities and work in
the factories.
From Africa - Life was difficult for
freed slaves after the Civil War. The
Southern economy was devastated, and
former slaves had to find work. About
the same time, George Pullman began his
sleeping car and dining car business.
Pullman not only manufactured his cars,
he also owned and operated them. After
the Civil War, Pullman made it a company
policy to hire former slaves as car
porters and attendants.
African-Americans also worked in other
capacities for the railroads. The
railroad industry both encouraged
immigration and provided opportunities
for employment and property ownership in
America. The railroads were the first
and chief means by which the United
States could absorb millions of
immigrants each year.
Labor Movement - During the early
years of the Industrial Revolution,
however, working environment and working
conditions conditions were poor. It was
the railroad workers who led the labor
movement which resulted in the leading
role the nation has today.
Unions Formed - Railroad workers
formed fraternal organisations or
"brotherhoods" during the 1860s. They
were more trade associations than
unions. There were many of these
associations: engineers, firemen,
brakemen, switchmen, telegraphers, etc.,
all had their own brotherhoods. These
became leaders in the American labor
movement during the depression in the
1870s.
Strikes - During the 1870s, the
American economy experienced a sharp
decline. Business transactions slowed,
and there was much unemployment.
Railroad owners announced that they were
going to cut wages so that they could
maintain payment of stock dividends. One
RR said that it was going to double the
length of its freight trains to save
money. Railroad fraternities thereupon
announced the first nationwide strike.
Traffic on most railroads came to a
standstill. Violence broke out in
several places. Even though the unions
eventually had to give in, their actions
were the first nationwide strike. The
railroad unions led strikes again during
the depression of the 1890s. In 1893,
the Pullman Company announced the
cutting of wages. The Pullman workers
struck, and other unions quickly joined.
The federal government eventually
intervened to make sure the trains
carried the mail.
Rights of Labor - The railroad union
activities eventually won out. The
Erdman Act of 1898 recognized mediation
and collective bargaining. During World
War I, the U.S.A. government established
the Railway Wage Commission which
further strengthened the unions. Both
wages and working conditions improved.
In fact, the Commission established the
8-hour "working day." In 1926, Congress
passed the Railway Labor Act. This law
recognized the rights of railroad
workers to have their own union,
independent of the company. Workmen's
Compensation was added later. Most
important for all, the 1926 Railroad
Labor Act was the model of the 1935
Wagner Act, which is often considered
the Magna Carta of American labor.
The
Stock Market - The railroads created
Wall Street. Before the 1840s, there was
little American industry, and therefore,
not much buying and selling of stock. As
different railroad companies got
started, people became interested in
purchasing ownership in this new
industry. Stock trading in railroads
increased dramatically, and Wall Street
gained the reputation it has in the
financial world today. In fact, the
rapid stock trading shortened the
American lunch period. Restaurants
formed "fast lunch" counters near Wall
Street stock houses so shareholders
could return to the market quickly to
keep an eye on their fortunes. Many
railroad companies were formed, and many
went under. Many speculated: they bought
risky stock at cheap prices. They either
made a lot of money or lost their
fortunes. Such investing caused "booms"
and "busts." Whichever, the railroads
were the unquestioned leaders of the
financial world.
Financial Scandals - Railroads also
created some of the biggest financial
scandals. The Crédit
Mobelier, in financing the Union
Pacific, engaged in a series of
questionable practices including
overpayments and the selling of stock
right in the "Halls of Congress."
Another famous scandal involved the
"Erie Ring." Officials of the Erie
Railroad, Gould, Fisk, and Drew, issued
worthless stock purchased for millions
of dollars by their competition,
Commodore Vanderbilt of the New York
Central. Their activities eventually led
to bribing judges and the entire New
York State legislature! Scandals aside,
railroads were Wall Street leaders until
the Great Depression in the 1930s.
Government Regulation - Government
regulation of business is common today.
It began, however, with the railroads,
well over a century ago. Farmers in the
Midwest fell on hard economic times
during the Panic of the 1870s. Crop
prices fell, and they had to make
mortgage payments. The railroads still
charged what now appeared to be high
prices to carry farm produce. What made
matters worse was the
"long-haul/short-haul controversy."
Railroads seemed to charge more to haul
something a short distance than a longer
one. From a small town to a larger town
could be more expensive than carrying
the same goods from one large city to
another many times the distance. The
reason was competition. Several
railroads served major cities, and they
kept shipping rates low because they
were in competition with each other.
When there was only one railroad company
between a farm town and a larger city or
town, that railroad had no competing
company and would charge "whatever the
customer could bear" or a much higher
price. Farmers wanted the government to
control freight rates, so they worked
through their social organisation, the
Grange. With campaigning and elections,
the farmers had Congress create the
Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC). By
1906, a Supreme Court decision gave the
ICC the authority to set minimum rates
to eliminate cut-throat competition
among the railroads.
World War I - Because of
bottlenecks, the federal government took
over the railroads during World War I.
When it returned the railroads to their
owners in 1920, the federal government
forced on them many costly regulations
which would last 60 years. The
government asserted authority over wage
increases and working conditions. Even
more important, the ICC could now set
maximum as well as minimum passenger and
freight rates. The railroads, therefore,
could not respond to the growing
competition from trucks, buses, and
airplanes.
Amtrak - The government later
sponsored the creation of the National
Rail Passenger Corporation, or Amtrak,
in 1971. Amtrak is the nation's only
long-distance, regularly-scheduled rail
passenger operation. In 1980, Congress
permitted railroads to determine freight
rates under certain conditions without
ICC approval. Later, the Interstate
Commerce Commission was abolished, and
Congress created a Surface
Transportation Board to regulate mergers
and abandonments. The Federal Railroad
Administration inspects railroad
equipment and oversees safety standards.
Safety and Technology - The
beginning of the Industrial Revolution
was fraught with accidents and even
death for workers. There was little or
no regard for safety. Railroading was no
exception. In fact, railroad workers
found it often impossible to buy life
insurance policies. In two generations,
however, the railroad industry took the
lead in safety and technology.
Air
Brake and Automatic Coupler - After
the Civil War, the Westinghouse air
brake and the Janney automatic coupler
saved many limbs and lives. Controlled
from the locomotive cab, the air brake
could stop a train more quickly and
safely. Prior to the air brake, brakemen
would have to walk on top of the cars
and turn a geared wheel to apply the
brakes on each car. Prior to the
automatic coupler, a railroader had to
stand between cars and attach them when
they were being added to a train. The
automatic coupler attached the cars as
soon as one touched another. To uncouple
them, a railroad worker would pull a
lever on the outside of the car as it
was pulled away. The putting together of
a train was made much safer.
Signals and Communication - By 1890,
the railroad industry took the lead in
safety. Improved signaling devices and
the use of steel rail and all-steel
railroad cars permitted faster and safer
speeds. Following World War II,
railroads used microwave and radio to
take the place of the century-old
telegraph. By 1970, computers helped
make up trains and keep an account of
freight cars. All kinds of high-tech
devices are in use today. In fact,
modern locomotives record performance on
"black boxes" as do the most modern jet
aircraft. Railroading is the ideal
mixture of heavy industry and high
technology.
The
Military and War - There is a direct
association of the United States
railroads and the military. In fact,
West Point graduates surveyed and
planned the first tracks, and many
contributed to improved locomotive
technology. On one of the earl |
