The Iron Horse: The Impact Of Railroads On 19th Century America The development of railroads in the 19th century transformed almost every aspect of human life. They were the first big businesses and created our economy. These changes occurred in a relatively short period of time (about 1830-1875), yet managed to positively effect society's economy, transportation, labor and development of land and resources. By the early 1830s, for the fist time in human history, a person could travel faster then galloping a horse on land. This was due to the development of railroads