Marshall Lasater
Mr. L
Military History P6
1/27/23
Transcontinental Railroad
Imagine a railroad that stretches across half of the nation. The Transcontinental Railroad was an immensely important development in American history. It connected the east and west coasts of the United States, allowing for faster transportation of goods and people across the country. The railroad also opened up new economic opportunities for businesses that could now easily move their products to far-away markets, leading to a period of unprecedented industrial growth in America during this time.
The construction of the Transcontinental Railroad began in 1863 with two companies: Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads being tasked with building it from opposite
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This allowed immigrants who were looking for better lives a broad access into different parts of the US. They could settle down permanently without having to worry about long distance journeys taking days upon weeks just to reach their destination point safely ultimately creating a more unified nation overall. It created in tons of jobs for the immagrants across the …show more content…
That is about half of the country's spending in 1868! (Kiger 2). One ton of steel cost 150 dollars in the 1860s. The railroad used 1350 tons of steel. Along with that steel there were tons of spikes to keep the track down and also miles and miles of wood beams layed down. Also the companies paided their workers close to nothing. Maybe a few dimes a day. They did this because they were immigrants and would work for very little. Lastly, on May 10th, 1869 the presidents of both railroad companies met in Promontory, Utah. There they drove in the ceremonial gold spike into a rail line that connects both
It all started with Abraham Lincoln passing the Pacific Railway Act, just before his death. This act allowed two trustful companies to build the railroad. In the end the government picked the Union Pacific railroad company and the Central Pacific railroad company. The companies started the work as soon as they could. The Union
The railroad was first designed by George Stephenson whose original idea was to use steam to run the train and make transportation faster. When the US started using railroads and trains they purchased them from the Stephen Works company from Britain. “In the 1850s a boom in railroad development across the North was changing business organization and management and reducing freight costs. Railroads were influencing a rise in real estate values, increasing regional concentrations of industry, the size of business units and stimulating growth in investment banking and agriculture.
There were more and more people moved westward after the discovery of gold in California in 1849. In 1845, the New York entrepreneur Asa Whitney proposed in Congress to raise funds to build railroad. However,
Civil engineer Theodore Judah who was located in Sacramento, California began his construction on the west coast and the Union Pacific Railroad began the constructions in 1865 on the east coast in Omaha, Nebraska. The two railroads companies met in Promontory Point, Utah on May 10, 1869, where the tracks were connected with a golden spike. “Construction of the first stage to Nevada cost $14.1 million, and the whole railroad cost $64.6 million (1860 dollars). With a loan of $37 million (1860 dollars) and 5.5 million acres granted to the railroad companies, it was the largest project supported by the federal government in the nineteenth century.” (Duran
Transcontinental Railroad The first Transcontinental Railroad was a 1,907 mile contiguous railroad line constructed between 1863 and 1869. It linked the country together in more ways than people could have ever imagined. Trains offer an efficient way to move goods over long distances. It impacted many things including the economy, the environment, and the Native Americans.
Each railroad company got one side of the country. The Union Pacific got the East side of the country, starting at Omaha, Nebraska, and the Central Pacific got the West side of the country, starting at Sacramento, California. Both companies joined tracks on May 10, 1869 in Promontory Point, Utah. During the time of the building, The Civil War
So, despite the UP’s decision, they decided to develop their own railroad companies. Out of Golden came the Colorado Central; out of Denver- the Denver Pacific. Each of these railways had every intention to be the first to reach and connect with the Union Pacific. Golden wanted to ensure their position over Denver.
Within ten years, the railroad had shipped $50 million worth of freight across the continent each year (pbs.org). Overall, the Transcontinental Railroad provided more opportunity with a safer and more convenient way of traveling across the United
The differences in these tracks made the it very complicated for the trains to get from one place to another. Often a train would have to be unloaded only to be loaded right back into a different train on a different gauge of rail. About half of all the railroads were using the gauge of 4ft 8 ½ inches following the Civil War and the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad the usage of the gauge of 4foot 8 ½ inches as the standard gauge would become common in almost the entire country. This standard gauge allowed for trains to have an easier time going from place to place. This railway network lowered the cost of shipping long distances along with increasing the speed of
After the Railroad was completed the price dropped to $150.” People really wanted quick, cheap, and easy transportation, and the Transcontinental Railroad was the answer. The Transcontinental Railroad was finished on May 10, 1864 and it started bringing Americans west, and pushing others off their
Transcontinental Railroad Travel predating the late 1860’s was a complicated and expensive opportunity. With the California gold rush of 1848 the push for a more universal mode of transportation was increasingly sought after. Men and families alike would either have to travel across the country westward by foot and wagon, or they would need to take a ship that would take them around much of South America before going back up north to California. The problem was not only did it cost in the thousands of dollars range, but the time in which it took was rather inefficient.
Central Pacific Railroad started from San Francisco, and used Chinese laborers for their work, pushing through the Sierra Nevada mountains. In 1867, to encourage quick progression, Congress deemed the land remaining between the two companies, which was the Utah plains, to be paid at mountain rate. This motivated the Union Pacific crew to lay 360 miles of track, and the Central Pacific crew to lay 425 miles of track within the year (Stockwell, 2011). Unfortunately, this hasty pace came at a cost.
On May 10, 1869, one of the most compelling frontiers in the history of transportation transpired. The building of the transcontinental railroad heralded a new era in transportation in the country. Together, Union Pacific and Central Pacific, two rival railroad firms, built the well-known route in just under seven years with the aid of the government. The development of the United States transcontinental railroad played a vital role in the West's urbanization and growth. The driving of the Golden Spike in 1869 marked the end of seven years of construction that employed thousands and cost millions of dollars.
The building of the railroad would start when President Abraham Lincoln passed the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 (Mintz, 2013). The government would pay $16,000 per flat mile, $32,000 for hilly mile, and $48,000 for mountain mile (Topic Page: Transcontinental Railroad, 2014). The companies were also given 16,000 acres of land on each side of every mile the laid (Topic Page: Transcontinental Railroad, 2014). The construction was undertaken by two railroad companies, the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad. The Union Pacific started in Omaha, NE and would build west, and the Central Pacific would build east starting from Sacramento,
With the advent of the railroad, many of these issues disappeared. Railroads had a major impact on advancing the American economy, transforming America into a modern society, and improving an antiquated transportation system. The building of railroads created rapid economic growth in America. Railroad companies employed more than one million workers to build and maintain railroads. At the same time, coal, timber, and steel industries employed thousands of workers to provide the supplies necessary to build railroads (Chapter 12 Industrialization).