How did railroads take advantage of farmers!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
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Position:Home>History> Emergency!! Question about U.S History?Question: Emergency!! Question about U!.S History!? How did railroads take advantage of farmers!?Www@QuestionHome@Com
Best Answer - Chosen by Asker: hello The exploitative behaviour of western railroad barons impacted adversely on farmers!. This mainly took the form of charging farmers freight rates that left little profit margin (for the farmers' efforts) in a market where no viable alternative transport system existed The farmers' protest against the western railroads took the form of "The National Grange Movement" and eventually led to the Interstate Commerce Act of 1887!. http://en!.wikipedia!.org/wiki/Interstate_!.!.!. Www@QuestionHome@Com They took advantage of the fact that they were the sole way of bringing their goods to market, in many cases!. It bounced back on the railroads after the age of the automobile began!. After that, there was a great deal of stored-up resentment against the railroads and there was considerable pressure on the government to build more roads and, later, airports!. The railroads had been used to being the indispensable form of transportation and were used to laughing at other people's problems!. When, in WW I the government took them over to help the war effort, no one cared about them!. The government did not invest in the upkeep of the lines, and handed back some worn-out engines, rolling stock and trackage to private ownership in the early 1920s!. The year 1916 was the peak year for length of trackage in the USA!. I believe the figure then was 230,000 miles of track in that year!. In general, there was no public sentiment to help the railroads in the USA in the 20th Century!. The ICC was able to "ride" the railroads because there was such a collective memory of having been "shafted" and "railroaded" in the past!.Www@QuestionHome@Com They charged them a lot of money to transport their goods and ripped through their land and charged them extra money for supplies!. Www@QuestionHome@Com they either under paid for the land or hired thugs to drive the farmers away so they could buy the land even cheaper Www@QuestionHome@Com Bought their land for cheap to build their railwaysWww@QuestionHome@Com |