The Railroad Journey and the Industrial Revolution: Crash Course World History 214

In which John Green teaches you about railroads and some of the ways they changed the world, and how they were a sort of microcosm for the Industrial Revolution as a whole. Prior to the invention of steam-powered railroads, pretty much all locomotion had been muscle-powered. You either walked where you wanted to go or rode on an animal to get where you were going. The railroad changed human perception of time and space, making long-distance travel much faster and easier. Railroads also changed habits, including increasing reading. People needed some sort of distraction to ensure they didn't have to talk to other people on the train. Like any new technology, railroads also scared people. All kinds of fears surrounded rail travel, but over time, people got over them. And the quality of boiler manufacturing improved, so the trains exploded less often, which also made people feel safer.
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[@padfoot9896]

"and E-learning was going to replace classrooms-" ........ _Well..._

[@tangos716]

LMAO ikr

[@Candlewaxeater]

I wrote a book about why john is a time traveler (not really)

[@cmmaltes]

watching this in 2020 when e-learning and e-teachers are the only thing we have now.

[@50ftFrankenstein]

John's hairstyle has gone from charmingly disheveled to straight up mad scientist.

[@Gamerroemer]

Fifty Foot Frankenstein yeah filming a movie does that to you

[@flibnit1]

Fifty Foot Frankenstein thank goodness i thought i was the only one noticing this 😂

[@rfkwouldvebeenaok1008]

I think he's losing it.

[@BradyPostma]

Mad scientist? His hair? Spoken like someone who has never seen my hair. For the record, I am not a mad scientist.

[@MadMadamMadster]

John Green: "E-learning E-teachers" 2020: E-learning E-teachers Me: he, he.

[@sudeepjoseph69]

@@jamanimations1785 I don't think that's how it works

[@jamanimations1785]

Sudeep Joseph Sirivella bruh great way to ruin the party

[@EpsilonEridani_]

Not gonna lie, I really wanna experience a classy train ride.

[@nikolstoycheva]

Same

[@judgedredd8657]

+Cycling in Edmonton from the Eyes of a Teen in north America there is also the Pacific Surfliner in California, the Rocky Mountaineer in BC

[@theytookyourjob]

+misstaxi not gonna lie, I would love to take a classy train ride with you, or even an uncomfortable horse ride, or any type of outdated means of transportation. A horse and carriage could be nice as well, with plush pillows, that sounds classy.

[@pEtEpeter91]

Juice As long as there is WiFi.

[@mrtumulus2345]

If only the mongols had railroads.

[@Eldael136]

:o They're the exception!

[@mrtumulus2345]

***** You know what I meant :þ

[@ASCG5000]

Well they do have rail roads...

[@mrtumulus2345]

Galaith100 Railroads are more efficient.

[@4everAudioslave]

Well, they had the silk road

[@ursanbear]

"So railroads were these big loud machines..." I think you mean locomotives. Railroads are rather silent once they are complete.

[@benlaser6417]

this made my day

[@andrewpowers9747]

I noticed that.

[@j-train13]

Wow

[@JonatasAdoM]

This bothered me through the whole video!

[@SilverMe2004]

But when a Railroad is operating it doesn't tend to stay silent

[@tahnolikessharing]

Anybody else enjoy sitting back, sipping some coffee, and learning some history from Crash Course?

[@Robbythegod]

I must agree although I'm English so I'll stick to my mug of tea :)

[@dannyp2970]

Ill eat my opium, thank you very much.

[@jaojao1768]

Elephants Fly rather tea, thank you

[@vlogdemon]

Elephants Fly tea, yes

[@ioanaturcan5702]

Yep I've got my cereal bowl with me 😂

[@bishopofapples]

This reminds me of talking to my Grandmother about early automobile journeys. Something I hadn't realized was that there were no street signs, and no real good maps available. Like, driving to California from Missouri you just, "Drove West". You'd talk to people, and find out which way to head. You'd camp alongside the road in a tent, or just on blankets under the stars. I'm talking like 1925 driving around the country, when a lot of it was just country.... Things do indeed change, it's interesting how much of the odd little bits seem to get left out of the narrative when examining history.

[@Gwydda]

Wow! That's really interesting. Never really though of navigating without signs. Thanks for sharing :)

[@flappymcflappington6719]

I saw on the history channel that when cars were first being sold in the masses. People were so use to horses that when they had to stop, on instinct, they would pull back on the steering wheel and say "whoa".

[@bishopofapples]

***** that's hilarious

[@Kaddywompous]

Funny how many people drove west back then. Cali was still lightly populated relatively speaking. More people lived in Missouri.

[@blazingkhalif2]

***** was that america the story of us?

[@lilliansunshine7499]

I love looking out a train window. I can't even concentrate on a book, the world outside is flying by and it's beautiful

[@BradyPostma]

I haven't ridden on railroads much, but I love watching out the window from the back seat of a car.

[@dgodfrey9189]

Personally I think an entire Crash Course History on the Industrial Revolution would be all kinds of awesome.

[@LarsaXL]

"Before trains all transport was powered by muscle" except for the massive amount of freight that was powered by the wind. Sailboats was a thing for millenia.

[@ClayburnGriffin]

LarsaXL But how do you get freight to the coast?

[@LarsaXL]

Clayburn Griffin Good point, often by muscle, but preferrably via rivers. Though they did use muscle to power boats as well.

[@redrounin1440]

+LarsaXL interesting point. maybe it would be more accurate, and highlight the difference even more to say that trains (and steam boats) were the first forms of transportation to rely on non-food fuel.

[@LarsaXL]

redrounin Certainly the first not powered by renewable energy sources.

[@redrounin1440]

LarsaXL Yes that's the key right there.

[@ciaranmyers792]

I love Crash Course History! You know what would be awesome? If, after World History, you fine folks did a series on the history of cities. You could focus on a different major city every episode. London, Paris, Kiev, Montreal, Chicago, Rio, Tunis, Hong Kong ... Aahh, it would be so awesome! You could even maybe get a cameo from a local historian into each episode. Everywhere has a willing and passionate local historian. I'd watch the crap out of that! Thanks for not forgetting to be awesome all the time!

[@unerror]

11:07 "But if railroad reading is any indication, we've been looking for ways to use technology to avoid interacting with each other in real life, for a long time." AHAHAHAHAH SO TRUE

[@BradyPostma]

Cheap newspapers and printed books were blamed for antisocial trends when they were new technology, too.

[@matthewhoober4744]

Much better than the first world history series. These episodes actually approximate the intellectual rigor and discussion level of a real history class.

[@richardzhou5557]

you really should do a whole series on the industrial revolution

[@luiscarlosqg]

Yes, true!

[@gabriellaureano2570]

Thanks John for the vids, my teachers are idiots and thanks to you learning is fun

[@Kronecraft]

Same on the teachers and John Green.

[@YesManF7W]

I found history so boring at secondary (high school) but when I went into sixth form (college) it became my favorite subject by far and renewed the love that I had for it when I was much younger. I am now soon starting a degree in history! a difference in teachers can mean so much, John is a great teacher (which ironically contradicts his point about e-learning). Thanks for everything Mr.Green

[@xMasterxRazorx]

Christopher Tobin Sixth form? That's a new term to me. Interesting.

[@TheBespectacledN00b]

xMasterxRazorx In Britain the old terms for Year 7, Year 8, Year 9, Year 10 and Year 11 (the years of compulsory schooling in the UK, going from 11 to 16) in which you were in secondary school was First Form, Second Form, Third Form, Fourth Form and Fifth Form. Sixth Form is the (until recently optional) years in education between the last of those years and university/work. It's just the old name stuck when the others changed for some reason.

[@xMasterxRazorx]

Thanks for the explanation. I learned something! :)

[@Prophes0r]

"Until railroads, all travel was powered by muscle" Sailing? "...when traveling at the speed of a cannonball..." A smoothebore blackpowder cannon fires an 8 pound ball at roughly 1000 feet per second. That is more than 650 miles per hour. What kind of train are you riding on again?

[@TheGameFilmGuruMan]

Maybe he should have an ademdum to change it to "land" travel.

[@DrummerMan52]

The second point was obviously a metaphor.

[@OrcinusDrake]

DrummerMan52 Hyperbole

[@lolpauve]

TheGameFilmGuruMan You know you can sail on land right?

[@DrummerMan52]

OrcinusDrake That too. :)

[@kaelyncrash]

That Destiny reference just made me realize that it is almost 2 years old and so is this video. God, how time flies.

[@derekbennington8511]

Lol it's 6 years old now and the servers for Xbox aren't up

[@hotdong6549]

6:25 JOHN GREEN IS DOING HIS PART!!! Thx reddit

[@JustAnotherHumanist]

"I've got this movie that's about to start filming.." Nice humblebrag there. :P

[@HoundDogBlue]

"the internet.. ..is a series... ..of tubes!"

[@GreenDancer64]

Please please please Mr. Green, please make a crash course series on the industrial revolution. Please!

[@javierruiz1223]

john green is definitely the best teacher in this channel

[@brynt91]

as soon as youtube starts to bore me, you guys pop up thank you, so much

[@Nimzo1]

06:25 - ‘sub to PewDiePie’ 2014... John Green is a time traveller confirmed.

[@ayushbagchi7316]

Ran here asap from Reddit didn't you?

[@Nimzo1]

Ayush Bagchi outstanding observation

[@mhjunky4278]

lol

[@alexanderkonings5644]

Ayush Bagchi same

[@sarahphillips579]

same

[@spencerfazzio3881]

6:27 That PewDiePie symbol on the newspaper tho

[@rachelw3768]

Railroad sound effects: 👌

[@legodude6912]

Hands first cookie* You are the one

[@eduardsnijders7594]

Choo choo!

[@patriciaschulz6253]

There is one other really important aspect of railroads they forgot to mention: railroads had a massive impact on corporate finance. Because building railroad infrastructure was so expensive, trading in financial markets became much more common and important. The rise of the railroad is very much connected to the increased importance of the stock exchange in both the US and the UK.

[@anubhabchatterjee4624]

6:27 Brofist On Newspaper

[@Lucy-ng7cw]

IF IT CAN HAVE A CRASH COURSE SERIES OF ITS OWN, MAKE ONE!!!!!!!!!!!

[@kroberts1515]

+Lucy Hunt yes please!

[@bestiesquad3215]

He made this 6 years ago yet my teacher uses this for random history assignments still

[@DarthMauldinOfficial]

What a thought, E-Learning replacing real classrooms? Pfft never gonna happen...

[@TheNightmareRider]

It seems for every age, there will be some group of people who fear new technology, making some kind of pseudo-scientific excuse to justify their fear. During the early days of the railways, there were people who said any movement over 10 miles an hour would crush the human body. Nowerdays, people make excuses for their paranoia over GMO crops. Not exactly the same, but similar mentality.

[@Matmannen01]

Well, about GMO, there is an issue though it can be contained. GMO plants usually have better traits then their natural cousins meaning that if GMO plants arn't contianed within special farms but are allowed to thrive free in nature they will out perform the non GMO plants meaning that GMO plants will spread at the expense of natural plants... other then that I see no issue with GMO, other then the super seed products which basically are meant to exploit poor farmers in third world countries... GMO is basically humans out manouvering evolution, and saying mother nature, we'll take it from here...

[@TheNightmareRider]

***** Which is good, because it's essentially just a faster method of selective breeding, which we do anyway.

[@Matmannen01]

The Nightmare Rider We are speaking about artificially created plants erasing our natural plant fauna upsetting the ecological balance evolution has created over billions of years. How is this in anyway positive?

[@jerden3285]

There is a solution! Genetically engineer wild plants, allowing them to keep up with our crops! (I didn't say you'd like the solution) Still, I think people often reject GMOs based on fear of new things, and then think of reasons. Genes for increased nutrition or herbicide resistance will not harm natural ecosystems, as we don't tend to regularly spray forests with Roundup, and high levels of vitamin A are not very useful to a weed. It's important to remember that most genetic engineering is just moving genes from species to species, and so the risks are similar to introducing new species. Which, admittedly, can end badly. Basically, we shouldn't ban GM. We should consider the risks and benefits of each new modification, and then sensibly regulate to minimize the risks of that modification.

[@Distortion0]

There are all kind of reasons to be wary of GMOs. The people in march against monsanto are mostly "nature"-obsessed nut jobs. But then there concerns, like most of the funding for testing GMO products is being provided by companies who want to sell said GMOs.

[@Kittyhalk]

The Industrial Revolution is one of my favorite historical periods to learn about an entire series over it would make my heart sing.

[@falseprophetproductions5446]

Lol I love the "As we say in my hometown, thanks for being awesome... WAIT NO WE SAY DONT FORGET TO BE AWESOME"

[@TheRealNinja24]

For my DBQ in just recited this video word for word, starting from "Hi, I'm John Green" and ending with "Best wishes, John Green." I think I got 7/7 :)

[@gazelleguy]

I like how the Mongol and Viking are sort of enemies! Pretty cute!

[@Asomekinge]

Jhon, hank and the other teachers at Crash Course are E-teachers

[@moseshuf-tirfe2978]

Could you please please please please make an industrial revolution series

[@hxri5]

6:28 Look at the newspaper

[@PepsVideoArchive]

I like trains

[@zecoregamer5288]

Sushininja127 VROOOOM Splat

[@sandraeden9038]

Asdfwmovie

[@JayeOFarrell]

That is absolutely the best example of mispronunciation from John along side also being the most amusing pronunciation of Ibiza I have ever heard!

[@Good_Wood_Hood]

i just like listening mr green babble.....i dont know how but its kinda relaxing.

[@henrymason7183]

I never knew anyone would mention Bridgwater in a video

[@lukechristmas3951]

I love trains! This is one of my favorite Crash Course videos! Come on everyone, admit it. You all like trains too!

[@Mr.RailYard-LJLRailYard]

This is probably my favorite episode to.

[@armagonarmagon3980]

1:53 OMG A SHAY LOCOMOTIVE!

[@laurap4415]

This is pretty much the best way to spend a lunch break from a stressful job.

[@thesuperintellectualchanne7525]

Did anyone else notice pewdiepies logo on the mans newspaper at 6:28

[@thomasuwu8222]

TheSuperIntellectual Channel he predicted the future

[@miked1098]

wish i had these videos in middle school and high school. you make learning fun. i really enjoy learning the things you teach. im not very smart and your helping with that.

[@Bullpup2]

Michael Dion Is that Romantically Apocalyptic?

[@miked1098]

you lost me.

[@Bullpup2]

Michael Dion Your profile picture, man! Its from my favourite comic, Romantically Apocalyptic!

[@miked1098]

Bullpup im about to go look that up, i just googled apocalypse pics and it was the first to pop up lol

[@Bullpup2]

Michael Dion You are about to embark on a fantastic journey of visual storytelling!

[@EllisMontes]

The cartoon of Hank and Michael is priceless!

[@brodig]

I watched Crash Course all through high school and it helped me so often... Now it's 3 hours before my first year university history final and I thought I'd watch a few videos to relax but keep my mind in history mode. And holy flipping moly our tutorial reading was this exact book. The serendipity is making me smile so much, so thanks for that :)

[@Jothamvvw]

I like Hank's cameo.

[@BrianHutzellMusic]

Along with Michael Aranda and a Hanklerfish!

[@ljmastertroll]

Crash Course Airlines. Worst example of corporate nomenclature ever.

[@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory]

Yes

[@erin4632]

Jason Learakos yeah

[@alexisporubsky2971]

YES

[@tinakootinoco3114]

I used to watch these alot in my modern world history class, i miss watching these in school now

[@shadow81818]

That thought bubble Crash Course Psychology bit was pretty great.

[@Polarbaerchen]

When you announced this topic I thought to myself: "If they don't mention this book, I will in the comments". I am glad you mentioned The Railway Journey because it blew my mind when I read it a few years back. Somehow I never thought about what it would be like to have timetables but no standard time before, for example. Or that we tend to understand distance as "how long would it take me to get there" and not "this is x kilometres away".

[@LastFanStanding12]

7:47 Covid-19 says what's up

[@tylerpursch508]

You killed this one, Mr. Green. You sure know how to make a fella laugh. I love Crash Course. I love you.

[@TylerSnell21]

I'm 23 years old and still fascinated by railroads!

[@robinchesterfield42]

I totally get the reading-on-trains thing. I sometimes ride the "Frontrunner", a passenger rail line that has a station less than a block from my house :) and even though it's modern to the point of having computer/phone-charger sockets, it's still got the facing-each-other seat plan from the stagecoach days! (It's also double-decker, like ANOTHER older-fashioned mode of transportation.) Just lemme listen to my music in peace, random stranger sitting across from me, and no-one gets hurt. :P

[@Mega3rn3st]

To me it looks like the more technology progresses the more we become self-centred...

[@emblematicMedia]

Thank you for making learning history interesting.

[@nightcr_wler]

I can't wait for the population video! I just learned about Malthus and his theory in my AP Human Geography class and I find it very interesting!

[@michaelbarton2549]

Btw john flying is the safest form of travel.

[@erikziak1249]

With the same logic we can argue that nuclear power is the safest form of power (least deaths per produced TWH): nextbigfuture.com/2011/03/lifetime-deaths-per-twh-from-energy.html Yet people freak out, the hysteria in german-speaking part of europe is really insane.

[@michaelbarton2549]

Erik Žiak Nuclear Power is the safest, but people are dumb.

[@Sergeilol20]

Erik Žiak what i find funny about the german government is that they close all the nuclear powerplants and replace them with coal and other fossile fuels.... like really!?

[@erikziak1249]

***** I on the other way find it stupid, not funny. While I agree that going 100% renewable is a noble goal worthy of striving for, I doubt that closing nuclear in favor for fossil fuels is the correct way to get there. I would close nuclear power after we close all fossil fueled power plants that are used to cover the base load of the transmission network. And that will not be in my lifetime...

[@douwis125]

Nuclear has quite a few downsides to it. And if we began to rely on it, we'd run out of Uranium very quickly. Which I didn't know until recently.

[@WesternOhioInterurbanHistory]

The reason people fear change is when something they love or like is replaced with a new thing.

[@samsquanch197]

JOHNS WORDS HANKS MOUTH AHHH!! lol

[@nicholashogan8412]

A Crash Course in Philosophy would be Amazing!

[@mehdil827]

But does progress always mean change?

[@tbeller80]

Progress: forward or onward movement towards a destination. Then yes, for there to be progress something has to change.

[@Heligoland360]

7:31 By god, what is that thing! Kill it with fire!

[@victoriacliff4398]

John talking about railways and trains may be the only thing which may stop me from despising my GCSE History coursework on our local area, were studying the history of trains and stuff like that of my town...

[@MarsGundam]

I love these vids, they remind me of those old Cable in the Classroom vids from the early 90s, only these keep my attention better.

[@OliverCovfefe]

"Someone call Elon Musk" LOL

[@natalialove76]

It’s funny how he said the world wanted to turn into e learning with e teachers in 2014. Look at the world now. 2020 online Learing and teachers through the computers🤦🏽‍♀️🤦🏽‍♀️

[@yesmissjane]

"change doesn't really mean progress" YES!!!!!!!!

[@pancreasnostalgia]

John didn't mention that Richard Sears played a large role in the standardization of time zones. He also established mail order catalogs that brought materials to the West that were hard to access before. Also, is that Anne Shirley in the Thought Bubble?

[@benjizee7307]

He angered the puff not ten seconds into the video and it never recovered. Rookie move, John.

[@andersonandrighi4539]

John Green had to explain one of the hardest concepts in history now. I'm waiting for a WW I revision where he shows the crisis of reason and the end of positivism as fascism and WW II take the scenario. If you read people from the 1910 up to 1950 you will see a dramatical change in the perception of the future. The year 2000 many believed we would live in one huge Utopia.

[@TrinityShoji]

When you think about it, isn't the 21st century a form of Utopia? We're not at Star Trek-levels of technology, but... Are you sick or injured? You can go to a doctor's office and get most illnesses cured. Preventative medicine could easily negate this years' flu virus. Is there something you want? You can get it, at a much faster pace than before, and international competition helps to reduce costs. Modern flight allows it to be sent anywhere at any time. Long story short, there have always been problems and there will always be problems. But if we keep improving ourselves, we CAN turn out better off than our parents.

[@EvansRowan123]

GenralMajors The 21st century is a form of utopia *for citizens of first-world countries.

[@TrinityShoji]

Rowan Evans Forgot to add that part... Oh well, give us another century, and we'll work out these problems (and add some new, harder issues.)

[@liwendiamond9223]

GenralMajors Yeah.... Another century. Global overpopulation, global warming, water and food shortages, everybody has nukes, is hungry and we still kinda hate each other for a lot of stupid reasons. This next century will certainly be exciting. Within the next 30 years alone, cybernetic enhancements will become common place and with a little luck and perhaps a huge amount of money, I'll finally get laid with the robotic version of Megurine Luka .

[@EvansRowan123]

LiwenDiamond "That's not a plan, that's a goal!" - Benjamin "Motherfucking" King, Saints Row IV

[@MILLI9991]

you made this video both informative and entertaining, thank you for that.

[@AzaharaBbz15]

I love this channel! It is so useful and creative. I wish there were more channels like this.

[@sarcastic8965]

Everyone is freaking out about the Destiny reference and I'm just here noticing that Anne of Green Gables (probably) is on the train at 6:29

[@MPHJackson7]

Hey, I did't see that the first time.

[@Neha71580]

I should know...i travelled on an airplane for the first time when I was 18 (i'm 21 now). I felt more like a booster than being fearful. Maybe my next generation would embrace new technology as well. But definitely I agree on the point, change not equal to progress!

[@Novum87]

GREAT episode mr Green!

[@christopherdenzilsmith1358]

awesome video. Thankyou for making it. It's the most interesting thing ive seen all day.

[@FloorTankMain]

"Change doesn't always mean progress" Me: *side-eyes DC Comics real hard* *also side-eyes Marvel but not nearly as much*

[@emilyblack7342]

Side-eyes Tom Brevoort even harder

[@FloorTankMain]

*side-eyes Perlmutter and whispers* I hate you...

[@EdvardsGrube]

i like that journey game off the ps3 reference.!

[@EricsWisdom]

Always lookin forward to these videos. Keep it up

[@beardymonger]

I have no smart comment or insight regarding this episode, but wanted to say that you (and your brother) are effing awesome. thanks

[@Loosifah]

I have just figured out that John's ears are asymmetrical. What has been seen cannot be unseen...

[@purple.star8]

6:26 *OMG* 😱 if you look at the news paper the man is reading, you will see that it has Pewdiepie's logo on it

[@BryanEshbaugh]

Despite the whole reading on trains thing I think it was the first big step to global socialising.

[@sivadmg]

excellent episode, nice comparison

[@margaretnguyen3048]

Riding horses has more soul? Is it the vinyl of transportation?

[@panushalimbu]

lol people used to read books on railway to avoid human communication. now, people just have their mobile phone out

[@BradyPostma]

I use my phone to listen to books. High tech traditionalism!

[@AmySavage6]

Industrial Revolution would be a fantastic series, I hope that someday it'll get realized.

[@Loremastrful]

Forgive me for coming in late, but I just discovered this series. Mr. Green you left out a vital component of the industrial revolution: commerce. Invention that helps a person or a group of people is often an oddity or a fad. An invention that improves a business or a business endeavor, becomes the revolution you are talking about. Trains didn't become big because it carried people from place to place, but rather goods. Cattle, cotton, rum or corn when you could transport those without losing so much to spoilage and or to New York or Philly for the same price. That transformed how we did things more than people reading vs talking to each other.

[@glorvalmacglorvas171]

I hear the term 'goods' a lot. If there is a goods there must be a bads...

[@lewisparrin3467]

I don't see how that's grammatically reconcilable.

[@BazzBrother]

Can someone tell me who painted that Train Passenger painting near the end of the video?

[@crashcourse]

Bazz Bro Adolph von Menzel. -stan

[@benkaufman4159]

I love trains

[@benkaufman4159]

MONGLES ON TRAINS

[@michaelchu5433]

+Benjamin Kaufman (Ben k) Mongols*

[@michaelchu5433]

Just trying to help, sorry if I offended u

[@mechcannon]

Loved the reference to crash course psychology one of my favourite crash courses and my first

[@samevans629]

Love it! And you guys! Can't wait for Paper Towns!