As society advances, new problems are created by that advancement, the Industrial Revolution was no exception to this case. New problems arose as the United States began to industrialise. Problems such as the fact that the United States was split into two parts with a mass of land in the middle which was terrible to cross, and the dry south-east settlements of the united states was running out of water. This was compounded by the fact that the Americas were a huge obstacle in terms of shipping. All of the problems listed above could not have been solved without the technology of the Industrial Revolution. The Industrial Revolution enabled people to have the tools to have grand ideas to solve modern problems.
As the east and west coast United States developed, there came a need for people to quickly cross the country as the major business centres were on the east and west coasts. Thus, the need for the idea of a transcontinental railway, stretching from the east to the west coast of the united states, was born. The building proved difficult as many rich investors who had no business in building railroads got the contract to build the railroads. The two competing lines of Union Pacific and the central line both attempted to reach the pacific first. However, not much building was done due to the American civil war. After the construction of the railroad, the cost of travelling from east to west coast or vice versa changed from thousands of dollars to merely 75 dollars. This was a huge change for normal people who are intending to cross the country. President Abraham Lincoln even realised the importance of this railway and said to Oakes Ames in 1865: “The road must be built, and you are the man to do it. Take hold of it yourself. By building the Union Pacific, you will be the remembered man of your generation”. The president supported this grand idea to solve modern problems and believed that the men who built it would be remembered for generations to come as they built such a massive feat of architecture. This great idea to connect the two coasts was a grand idea to solve the problem of a country split into two, the transcontinental railroad was new technology utilised on a grand scale which solved the modern problem of a country divided in two.
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The Hoover Dam was a giant creation to save the seven western states from droughts and also provide electricity for the seven states. This project was planned in 1922 and construction began in 1928, it was named Hoover Dam to honour then-president, Herbert Hoover. 5 million barrels of cement and 45 million pounds of reinforcement steel was used to build the great hoover dam. The 726 feet structure was so impressive that Franklin Roosevelt said: 'This morning I came, I saw, and I was conquered, as everyone would be who sees for the first time this great feat of mankind. . .” Speech by Franklin Roosevelt, here Roosevelt himself quotes from Julius Caesar’s ‘I came I saw I conquered’ in relation of his conquest of Gaul, Franklin Roosevelt speech reference that and says that he was conquered by the sight of the Hoover Dam, as this construction was so monumental and massive that Roosevelt felt conquered by it and called it a great feat of mankind and this idea was so colossal that he was truly impressed. The project was a grand idea to solve the problem of 7 states which suffered droughts and other water problems. Neither the technology of utilising concrete in such a massive scale was ever done before nor the storage of incredible amounts of water using a dam was utilised either. This was a great idea to solve a massive problem of drought and dry farmland which was solved by a grand idea of the Hoover Dam.
The Hoover Dam and the Transcontinental Railroad was gigantic projects which used insane amount of people to improve the lives of people in both daily and emergency circumstances.
The Transcontinental railroad improved the lives by improving transportation for people and goods travelling around the country making places closer and thus bringing the United States into a more modern era. In times of disaster, such as a tornado or an earthquake, the area could be evacuated quicker and also relief forces could come much faster using the transcontinental railroad as a way of transportation. The Hoover Dam improved the lives of people living in the south-east of the United States where water was scarce and made water far more accessible in these states. The dam also protected the valley from floods as the dam was there to prevent too much water from being released too quickly. These innovations improved the living conditions of the people around them and utilised the new inventions of the industrial revolution, using the grand ideas of the people, to solve modern problems.
References
- Hoover Dam 2018, viewed 27 September 2019.
- Hoover Dam Quotations 2018, viewed 27 September 2019.
- Julius Caesar Quotes 2019, viewed 27 September 2019.
- Transcontinental Railroad 2019, viewed 27 September 2019.
- TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD QUOTES 2019, viewed 27 September 2019.
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