Railroads really helped the United States grow in two aspects that work in tandem: transportation and economics. Trains provided a cheaper, faster way to transport goods throughout the Union. This made conducting business and trade within the Union much easier and eventually created an interdependence between the once separate sectional economies. While the South provided cotton to the North, the North manufactured it into clothing to the West and South. The West would use its grain and cattle to feed the North and South.
Many progressives believed the key to improving government was to eliminate corruption in both the government itself and in big business. Another tactic was to encourage more "common people" to vote.
