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Five railway trunk lines pierced the Appalachian barrier between 1850 and 1857. How did the south compare?

AIt built twice as many trunk lines in the same years
BIt refused every railway charter until after 1860
CIt relied on the five northern lines for its cotton
DIt gained a through mountain line only late in the 1850s
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: D. It gained a through mountain line only late in the 1850s
1. Improved transport was a great stimulus to prosperity in the west. 2. From 1850 to 1857 five railway trunk lines pierced the Appalachian barrier. 3. The south at first had much less part in that expansion of the network. 4. Only late in the 1850s did a continuous line run through the mountains. 5. That line joined the lower Mississippi River to the southern Atlantic seaboard. 6. Cotton bales were carried by wagon, barge and railroad to markets in both north and south, so the crop moved regardless. 7. Building twice as many lines would make the south the leader, which reverses what happened. _Source: An Outline of American History (U.S. Information Agency, 1990, public domain), section SECTIONAL CONFLICT_
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