America’s Post-Civil War Growing Pains

America’s Post-Civil War Growing Pains

Ricky Branch

Strayer University

HIS105

Prof. James H. Adams Jr.

October 30, 2012

The period post the civil war marked remarkable strides in the United States with industrialization forming the chronicles of what would one day be a powerful nation. The building of the railways was one of the historical turning points in this emancipation, which made Americans run from political offices to get a share of ownership in the vast corporations that were forming. Though President Lincoln was assassinated when the railway construction was just 35,000 miles long, the construction was not thwarted. This essay depicts the impact of the reconstruction through industrialization in the period from 1865 to 1900, in Western United States.

The building of railway tracks in Western United States started in earnest in 1865 rights after the end of the civil war. At first, the costs incurred in acquiring land, sourcing building materials and building through land that was unoccupied proved to be too costly for the construction companies. The companies, as well, met hostilities from various indigenous communities.

The political support that was championed by the government alienated some of these problems. The government at the time passed laws ensuring that the companies got waivers from incurring land costs. They were, also, given, loans by the government. The loans were disbursed after every mile that the railway construction company built, and the loans ranged from $ 16, 000 to $ 48, 000 (Kennedy & Cohen, 2012). The amount range depended on whether the company was transiting through prairie lands or though mountainous ones.

The loans and grants given for railway construction boosted the economy at the time. The government support had construction companies, and job seekers alike running for the railway project. The companies reaped vast profits with...