Banks and Railroads

Th is chapter describes and analyzes economic development between 1830 and 1860. It focuses on banking/credit, and railroad fi nance/construction because these two policies of political economy accelerated manufacturing and urbanization. During these thirty years, credit from American banks and imports of European capital were essential for constructing railroads. Railroads were essential to accelerate the commercialization of culture because they speeded agricultural commodities to American cities for consumption and to port cities for export. Equally important, during the 1850s, banks and railroads interacted to accelerate factory manufacturing in the United States.