United States History Student Edition

Major Railroads, 1860 Railroads were important not only for transporting people across the country but also for shipping goods greater distances than ever before.

GEOGRAPHY CONNECTION 1. Exploring Regions Which regions were least served by railroads in 1860? 2. Patterns and Movement Looking at the map, you can see that much of the

Portland

Boston

Bu alo

Detroit

Railroads

Chicago

Pittsburgh

New York City

Philadelphia

Washington, D.C.

St. Joseph

Cincinnati

railroad mileage runs between eastern and western points. Why do you think that is?

Richmond

St. Louis

Norfolk

ATLANTIC OCEAN

Charleston

N

W

E

Houston

S

New Orleans

0

400 kilometers 400 miles

0

Albers Equal-Area projection

Communications Breakthroughs The growth of industry and the new pace of travel created a need for faster methods of communication. The telegraph (teh•luh•graf)— a device that used electric signals to send messages—filled that need. Samuel Morse, an American inventor, developed a system for sending messages instantly along electrical wires. After Morse showed his system could send messages over a short distance, Congress gave him money to test the device over a wider area. Over a period of several months, Morse strung electrical wires between Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, Maryland. On May 24, 1844, he was ready to try out his system. A crowd of people in Washington, D.C., watched as Morse tapped out the words “What hath God wrought” on his telegraph system. A few moments later, the operator in Baltimore sent the same message back in reply. Morse’s telegraph had worked, marking the start of a new era in communications. Telegraph operators sent messages quickly by using Morse code . This code uses different Morse code a system that uses arrangements of dots and dashes to represent the alphabet

Improvements in transportation provided benefits to both businesses and consumers. Farmers and manufacturers could now move goods faster and more cheaply. As a result, consumers could purchase them at lower prices than in the past. The railroads also played an important role in the settlement of the Midwest and the growth of its industry. Fast, affordable train travel brought people into Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. The populations of these states grew, and new towns and industries developed as more people moved into the region. Safety Concerns As travel along railways and waterways increased, the possibility of disaster also increased. The Great Train Wreck of 1856 occurred between Camp Hill and Fort Washington, Pennsylvania, on July 17, 1856. Two trains slammed head-on into each other. An estimated 60 people were killed, and more than 100 were injured. Newspapers reported on the accidents and demanded that railroad companies improve their equipment and make the safety of passengers their first concern. telegraph a device that used electric signals to send messages

TEXT: Morse, Samuel F.B. Quoted in Leading American Inventors, by George Isles. New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1912.

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