The development of the railroads was a key element in the expansion of the United States and in the economic well-being of the nation during the nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. The railroad was a transportation and communication marvel compared to anything that had existed previously. It crossed the territories of the nation and made it possible to travel from one end of the country to the other or to send mail and goods along the same routes. The development of the railroads was itself a matter of business expansion on a grand scale, starting with small lines and ending with vast networks of tracks which nurtured cities and towns all along their length. In terms of business history, the development of the railroads was not only the first big business venture in America but also made it possible to expand other businesses into not merely local entities but regional and national corporations. Distant business offices could now be linked to the central office, allowing a business to cover a much wider range than was ever possible prior to that time. The railroad has also been credited as a major force in the opening of the West and in the development of the United States as a unified social and political entity.
The railroad would bring massive economic changes to the nation, though not all of the economic change brought about by railroads is viewed as positive. The pattern set by the railroads would be the pattern followed by other monopolistic enterprises in the late nineteenth century, for instance, and often the railroads were complicitous in the creation of such monopolies as large business entities whose business served the needs of the railroads for shipping and the like. The problems associated with employee relations and this new entity, Big Business, also started with the railroads before being repeated again and again with other large-scale enterprises. Alfred D. Chandler accepts readily that t...