a. Railroads in the late 19th century helped America become the richest industrial nation in the world. Railroads increased trade and integrated the American market, as well as helped national brands emerge such as Ivory soap and A&P grocery stores. They also introduced time zones to make shipping and passenger travel more standard. The railroad was the first modern publicly traded company; the companies were large and expanding across the country. The railway companies had large numbers of employees. Capital was needed to build railroad tracks, so shares were sold to the public by wealthy tycoons like Vanderbilt and Carnegie. The rail system was also a symbol of the partnership between national government and industry. The railroad would never have been created without the legislature and land grants approved by Congress. An example would be the Central Pacific Railroad, backed by wealthy tycoons including Leland Stanford, the former governor of California who had useful political connections, and Collis P. Huntington, a skilled lobbyist. The railways gave land th...