Men, Machines and Music How has the United States changed?
The railroad supplied the factories, mines and farms of the industrial United States.
Trains carried supplies to the mills, mines, farms and factories. Trains carried the products of the factories, farms and mines to market.
With the end of the Civil War and peace, business leaders raced to build rail transportation. The Transcontinental Railroad was completed in 1869
Business leaders competed to build and control the rail transportation system. They became VERY rich.
But the workers who built the railroads, mined the coal and worked in the mills did not.
Millions of immigrants came to work in the industries the railroads built so no one had to pay them much. Too many were looking for the same job!
The workers who built the railroads immigrated to the United States looking for opportunity.
In the East, the workers were mostly Irish.
In the west the railroad was built by Chinese immigrants
The work was brutally hard and dangerous. The pay was low.
The immigrant workforce faced many obstacles Prejudice Corrupt Bosses Long Hours Low Pay Danger Child Labor
Long Hours and Low Pay! 12 hrs per day and 6 days per week!
Children worked at home and in factories to help support the family
No insurance, no holidays, no sick leave
Danger! Miners worked to get the coal, or fuel, for the trains and factories.
Nativists accused immigrants of hurting our country. They worked to limit or stop immigration Prejudice!
But the railroad was jobs!
The railroad was adventure and art!
The railroad was romance!
The railroad was even religion!
As they worked men used the music and memories of their Irish homeland to ease their labor. The Route. Can you hear the train in the fiddle music?
It was the music of America growing