Question

How do you think the money received by railroads from land grants contributed to westward expansion.

Answer 1

if there is a way to go somewhere people will go there, they wanted to start economies and businesses and the best way to do that was to go somewhere no one had gone yet, and now that railroads had a reason to build that way it meant that people could also start to use those railroads to travel.

Answer 2

The idea was that with railroad expansion in new territory, settlers would follow, establish communities, and increase the value of land. Railroads could sell their portions of land and profit from their investment. The federal government hoped the railroad profits would be reinvested for further expansion.