Global Hist. & Geo. Rating Guide – June ’13 [18] Vol. 2
Railroads
Key Ideas from Documents 7–9 Relevant Outside Information
(This list is not all-inclusive.)
How Technological Advancement Affected
Interactions
How Technological Advancement Affected
Interactions
Doc 7—Major interior cities in India linked to
coastal regions
Influence of British empire expanded (economic
patterns, ideas, institutions)
Doc 8—British economic and political interests
promoted by railroad construction at the expense
of Indian economic development
Doc 9—Facilitated, linked, coordinated a wide
variety of socioeconomic processes
Allowed for cooperation with other large-scale
transportation and communication systems
Telegraph/telephone systems developed in areas
where the railroad was built
Changes Resulting from Interactions Changes Resulting from Interactions
Doc 7—New commodities produced for industries
of the West
New workers needed to produce goods
New patterns of land ownership developed, often
involving dispossession of previous inhabitants
New legal codes developed to make newly
conquered lands safe for investment and
exploitation
Doc 8—Railways important role in imparting
colonial character to the Indian economy
Railroads wanted by Indian nationalists to serve
their national economic interests/finances
Railway policy wanted by Indian nationalists to
promote Indian industry
Public works policy wanted by Indian nationalists to
give priority to irrigation and agriculture
Doc 9—Emergence of national markets with
converging prices for food in India in the 1880s
Peasant villagers able to make quick pilgrimages
British soldiers and their weapons able to be
quartered in fewer places
British soldiers able to be moved quickly to trouble
spots
Increased profits for Indians from the selling of
publications from Indian-owned presses
Inexpensive, bulk shipments of books, magazines
and newspapers as result of cooperation between
post office and railroads
Easier circulation of Indian nationalist materials
New industries employed mostly Indians but top
positions held by Europeans
Early resistance by the public to the use of railroads
due to a mixing of groups (castes, religious
groups, sexes)
Use of railroads by poor people to move into cities
Spread of diseases (cholera)
Need for sewage and water systems as result of
overcrowding in cities
Use of railroad by Gandhi to learn about his country
Use of railroads and telegraph/telephone systems by
Indian nationalists to organize rallies and boycotts
(Indian National Congress, Muslim League)
Use of telegraph/telephone systems by Indian
nationalists to communicate with overseas
newspapers promoting their cause/desire for
independence