America is known as a country of freedom; the freedom to choose between Italian or Mexican for dinner, the freedom to be a lawyer or a teacher, to choose to live in an apartment in New York or a cottage in Washington. Americans have the freedom to express their opinion and the freedom to listen to anyone they choose. Within these freedoms is the freedom to pursue a dream that seems impossible. Most would say the unknown is crazy, Americans would call him revolutionary. Although America was not home to the first railroad system, Americans used railroads to advance the country in an entirely new way. The railroads influenced the way the country is run and continue to have a lasting effect today. No one person can be given credit for the invention of the railway; rather there are many subjects who contributed to the final design of the railways. For starters, as early as the 16th century, the Germans were using horse-drawn carts, pulled on wooden rails. These systems were known as “railroads” and are the grandfathers of modern railways. In 1776, the wooden rails and wheels were replaced by iron ones. Eventually, the wheels became flanged, allowing the wheels to grip the tracks better. The turning point for locomotives was the invention of the steam engine. The steam engine was invented by three different British inventors, over the span of a hundred years; giving the credit to just one man would be a crime. The first man to use the steam engine was Thomas Savery. In 1698 Savery patented an "engine for raising water by fire". The machine was used as a pump, which began by heating water to vaporize it, causing it to fill a tank with steam, then the steam created a vacuum isolating the tank from the steam source and condensing the steam... .. middle of paper. .....f “How can it be improved?” Although Americans did not invent the first railroad, America certainly made good use of the railroad. They improved him and he was credited with many wonderful achievements because of that determination to never stop trying. Railroads had an impact on American racing, and its effects still reverberate throughout the country today. Works Cited http://www.ushistory.org/us/25b.asp http://www.flowofhistory.com/units/eme/17/FC112 http://americanhistory.si.edu/onthemove/themes/story_47_1. html http:// memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/rrhtml/rrintro.htmlhttp://www.gocurrency.com/articles/invention-rail-road.htmhttp://www.egr.msu.edu/ ~lira/supp/steam/http://www.whoinventedit.net/who-invented-the-train.htmlhttp://mikes .railhistory.railfan.net/r013.htmlhttp://www.laughtergenealogy.com/bin /histprof/misc/railroads.html