The Transcontinental Railroad by Dakota Mercer

The Transcontinental Railroad by Dakota Mercer

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• Around the 1850’s, settlers began moving westward across the United States, especially after gold was found in California.

• Travelling across plains, rivers and deserts was risky and difficult.

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In 1845, the New York entrepreneur, Asa Whitney, presented a resolution in Congress proposing funding for the construction of a railroad that went all the way to the Pacific.

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In 1862 President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act into law.

• The act said that there were two main railroad lines.

• The Central Pacific Railroad would come from California and the Union Pacific Railroad would come from the Midwest.

• The two railroads would meet somewhere in the middle.

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The Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Company built the Transcontinental Railroad.

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The building of the transcontinental railroad begin in 1862.


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• Many of the laborers were Chinese.

• Working conditions were brutal. • They used gunpowder and

nitroglycerine to blast tunnels through the mountains, which was very dangerous


The majority of the workers on the Union Pacific Railroad were Irish laborers.

In Utah, a lot of the track was built by Mormon workers.

Most of the Central Pacific Railroad was built by Chinese immigrants

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• Central Pacific Railroad dealt with mountains and snow

• Union Pacific Railroad dealt with Native Americans

• Native Americans felt

threatened and raided the railroad worksites

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From an 1883 publication devoted to the settlement of the pacific

northwest-

“Railroads have been built and the means of wire communication have been extended, the result of which already has been the redemption and occupation of rich areas from the primitive wilderness”

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Industrial Advancements

• Created industrial order from nature• Surveyors used precisely calibrated instruments

to mathematically quantify curvature, elevation and distance

• The space between the rails could not vary by more than a fraction of an inch

• paper thickness and envelope sizes were standardized within the railroad industry

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Lengthy sets of rules governed train operations—and even

employees’ leisure hours off the job.

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Seven years later, the railroad was finished on May 10, 1869.


When the tracks met finally, there was a huge celebration with people dressed in fancy clothes and a golden spike was sledgehammered into the

last spot.

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• The railroad served the North in its Civil War efforts

• paved the way for Western expansion

• built the fortunes of influential men

• Years later, its importance dwindled with the rise of interstate highways and air travel, and much of it was pulled apart for materials for later war efforts.

Fun fact:

Before the building of the Transcontinental Railroad it cost nearly $1000 to travel across the country.

After the railroad was completed, the price dropped to $150.


1. What year did it end?

1. 18502. 18693. 16624. 1845

2. What color was the last spike that they hammer into the track?

1. Black2. Gold 3. Pink4. Red

3. How many years did it take to finish it?

1. 5 years 2. 8 years3. 7 years

4. 10 years

4. What President signed the Transcontinental Railroad Act Into law?

The End!

Answers for Grading the Quiz

1.18692. Gold3. 7 years4. Abraham Lincoln

Documents

The Transcontinental Railroad by Dakota Mercer