the railroads were not only the main means of transportation of there time but they were also used to haul goods from one side if the country to the other!
Historians argue over the fact whether railroads determined the pace of economic development in nineteenth-century America. ... They were liberating - increasing mobility and speed across the continent - as well as confining: they held the power of economic life and death over many communities, often abusing that power.
Hope this helps I know the answer is to complicated! :)
