Critical Thinking 14-2 #4

Why was the government so eager to promote the growth of railroads?

The rail roads were a large industry in the 1870's to the 1890's. The government saw this industry as an opportunity to expand westward with ease. This was not only meant for people who wold be migrating west, but for business as well. Not to mention it would also rake in large profits.(pg. 442)
The people who were moving out west were mostly families looking for land for farms, or people, namely women, looking for jobs on a farm. this was only the original reason for expanding west. the new reason was to build new railroads. with new roads for the locomotive, there was a safe and secure way to transfer farm crops and other farm goods from coast to coast. This, however was a problem for the farmers. They simply couldn't afford the shipment of sending their crops to merchants because the railroad prices were too high. (443)
This leads to the true reason the government started the railroad expansion in the first place: money. Whether it was selling the farmers crops or charging to send them by train. This was why they didn't do anything about the companies creating a trust and overpricing their railroads. The trust was looked at as an opportunity to make even more money in the business than they were before. (445)

Critical Thinking 14-1 #5

Which invention or development described in this section had the greatest impact on society?

There were many things in this period that were invented and we still use as necessities today. These included the production of steel, the invention of the light bulb, the typewriter and the telephone. All of these inventions were amazing steps foreword in technology. However, the most important one has to be the light bulb.
Created by Thomas Edison 1880, the light bub was a revolutionary invention which could supply light to the common man's home whenever needed. Although we now take the light bulb for granted, there once was a time when people had to light their homes with candles and fireplaces. (438)
The main reason the light bulb was so revolutionary was because it opened possibilities on supplying electrical power in a way that would be convenient for the public as Edison and George Westinghouse did. The same way the electricity powers the light bulb, it could also be harnessed to create heating, telephone lines and whatever else could use electricity. Currently, we use this electricity to supply power to our televisions, computers or even simply charge a cell phone. Probably no one would have figured how to harness this power if it were not for Thomas Edison and his revolutionary light bulb.(438-439)