After a few years the trail became the Santa Fe Railroad and it also played a bigger role in the exchange and transformation of the American frontier. The American frontier was about the transformation of the east to be the American West and the railroad allowed for the connection between these two areas promoting trade and commerce. Without this passageway, business would not have been wide-spread and I do not think business would be as potent without the Santa Fe Railroad. The Santa Fe Trail opened up the opportunity for advancements which resulted in people’s chance to experience and discover the world around them. However, I think business rocketed for Dodge City with the Santa Fe …show more content…
In the article “Kansas Transportation” by Roger Grant it says that the railroads “permitted Kansas farmers, miners, and other citizens access to the economic and cultural opportunities offered by the larger towns and cities, and these communities tapped a larger trading area” (222). The Santa Fe railroad helped further the cattle trade industry in Dodge City by easing the process of cattle drive. The cowboys would bring their cattle to strategic train shipment areas in Kansas, instead of having to travel the whole way. This had a great impact because it gave rise to the cow towns like Dodge City (213). Grant further describes the rise of the railroad as “a major technological change during the late-nineteenth century that resembled the Internet revolution that swept the world during the closing years of the twentieth century” (214). The railroad opened up many opportunities through trade and even opened up new jobs. The railroad is able to bring more people at a time into town, which would be a great advantage to the town, because the more people equals more business and trade. People also found work on the railroads and in coal mining. However, immigrants who received these jobs were discriminated once they posed a threat to taking jobs from “white” Americans they were taken out. This brings along the basic premise of Manifest Destiny, which was that the U.S.