Why were railroads built instead of canals in some places?

They allowed people to ship good and travel faster.

Explanation:

Canals and railroads allowed goods to be shipped faster from place to place and people to travel faster into the West.

an economic reason that the south needed a reconstruction plan is that plantations, factories, and other businesses were destroyed during the war.

less available tax revenue

this basically means that when they get money from taxes wirth having a lower gdp they get less then what others have with a higher gdp