What Transportation Developments Helped Cities Grow After the Civil War?

By the end of the 1840s, railroad lines outnumbered canal lines by nearly double.

The period of Reconstruction immediately after the Civil War is often referred to as the "Gilded Age," as so coined from an 1874 Mark Twain novel. During the Gilded Age, America saw a boom of economic growth that it had not previously experienced. The advent of the railroad grew at an astonishing pace, in part because of the Industrial Revolution that had finally made its way to America during the mid-19th century. Because of the nature of abject greed and capitalism during the Gilded Age, advances in transportation during this time are often overlooked; however, these advances were key in establishing the post-Civil War economic boom.

Transportation Before the Civil War

Prior to the Civil War, some advances in transportation had been achieved, in part because of the building of the turnpike system in the early 19th century. However, turnpikes at this time are not really considered a success; trips were long and arduous, and tolls were expensive. Plank roads began to be built in the 1850s, but partially because of the fact that traveling was done by horse and cart, their progress was slow. Another advent of the early 19th century was travel via canal. The Erie Canal, which was completed in 1825, was 364 miles long and served as the model for other canals built during the same time period. Nonetheless, the high cost of building canals and the subsequent boom of the railroad served to doom the canal system as a viable means of transportation. The steamboat engine was built by Robert Fulton in 1807, adding another means of travel to the early 1800s. Because of this invention, travel to and from major ports on the waterways was much more accessible, as flatboats had been the primary means of water travel prior to this.

The Development of the Railroad

Initially, railroad development began during the 1820s through 1830s. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad finished construction in 1830, and railroads in South Carolina and Boston, Massachusetts, were soon to follow. The primary growth of the railroad was in the North, however. During the Civil War, this strengthened the North's position by allowing them to move troops and maintain commerce for themselves. Confederate railroads were captured, and were difficult to quickly rebuild.

The Post Civil War Boom

After the Civil War had ended, freed men migrated into cities looking for employment opportunities. Immigrants emigrated from Europe, searching for factory jobs and opportunities in the cities. Urban manufacturing and milling spiked during this time period, largely in part because of railroad expansion. New cities began to spring up in America, each one a potential hub for commerce, industrialization and agriculture. The United States began to emerge as an industrialized nation, but at this point this growth was primarily seen in the North. The innovation of steel was also quite important during this time, as its growth, spurned by Andrew Carnegie, contributed largely to the industrialization and urbanization factor.

The Transcontinental Railroad

After the Civil War, America began to look toward a possible conquest of the West. Thus far, the West held a lot of uncharted territory that was not accessible by easy travel. Around this time, Congress approved a Transcontinental Railroad project. The Union and Pacific Railroads began work on a railroad that stretched from Sacramento, California, to the Mid-Atlantic States. On the East Coast, Cornelius Vanderbilt began a railroad dynasty, creating tracks from New York to Chicago. By the time of his death, he was considered the wealthiest man in America. Many tracks were laid all over America, contributing to the easy flow of commerce and travel. Cities became centers of production, and goods were hauled by train to and from the ports. The economy was booming.

Other Improvements in Post-war Travel

Other advances in transportation helped the growth and urbanization of cities. While horse and cart travel was still the primary means of transportation for short trips, electric streetcars were introduced in the 1880s and 1890s, allowing suburban areas to be developed. Streetcars were built in Baltimore, Richmond, Norfolk, New Orleans and many other cities. Not only were the areas around the cities now habitable, the ease of finding gainful employment increased, as townsfolk could travel for further distances to find jobs. All of these advantages in travel bolstered the economy and allowed for urbanization of cities, but with money and capital soon follows greed. Opportunities were abundant, but so was capitalistic greed. The Gilded Age is a prominent example of how rapid economic growth can have its negative points, as well as being advantageous.

References

• Civil War Home; Transportation and Commerce in the Civil War; October 2004
• Conner Prairie: Transportation Developments in the Early Republic
• American Business; The Gilded Age; February 2011
• Raken.com: A Classification of American Wealth
• Teaching With Photographs: Urbanization in Virginia
• "USGS"; Urban Growth in American Cities; Auch et al.; January 2004

Resources

• Drexel University: Waverly - History of a Baltimore Neighborhood
• Who Made America?: Robert Fulton