American Frontier And Railroad System Analysis

The Transcontinental railroad was the most prolific tool for United States western expansion and acted as jet fuel to the fire of the United States economy. The railroad revolutionized transportation of goods and the freedom that Americans now had to travel from coast-to-coast.

The First Transcontinental Railroad, completed in 1869 by the U.S. government under president and former Army general Ulysses S. Grant, was a defining moment in American history. The railroad, which stretches across 1,900 miles of mountainous terrain, was completed nearly 6 years after construction began in 1863. The First Transcontinental Railroad became the cornerstone of the economic prosperity in the western United States, allowing American citizens to conveniently travel to the west coast in a matter of days. The creation of this railroad, along with the American dream of unifying the coasts, is what ultimately drove Americans to colonizing and transforming the west into the urban environment it is today. Significantly, this railroad became the physical manifestation of Manifest Destiny, or the idea that America not only could, but was destined to be connected between its coasts. The First Transcontinental Railroad became the physical manifestation of the American Identities consisting of American Exceptionalism, Manifest Destiny, as well as the fundamental American ideals such as prosperity, freedom, and democracy which were first brought to the continent in the 1600s.

After America acquired the West, the need for efficient transportation heightened. Ideas circulated about a railroad that would spread across the continent from East to West. Republican congresses ruled for the federal funding of railroad construction, however, all actions were halted for a few years on account of a war. Following the American Civil War of 1861-1865, the race to build transcontinental railroad began in 1866. Lincoln approved Pacific Railway Act of 1862, granting two railroad companies the right to build the first American transcontinental railroad, (Clark 432).

Inventions like the iPhone have paved the road for social, economical, and political improvements. It allowed many opportunities for people to capitalize on whether it be economically like amazon, or socially like youtube as did the railroad that connected the states together. The transcontinental railroad most impacted America economically through encouraging imports and exports amongst the states, making transportation cheaper, and opening up cities along the railroad itself.

Similar to the light bulb’s legacy of ideas, the transcontinental railroad paved the way for new transportation. “The transcontinental railroad act is the first step in creating a continental common market.” This quote by, Charles R. Morris, defines the wide-spread uprising in the American Economy after establishing a railroad that would last a lifetime. The Transcontinental Railroad economically transformed America because of the trade and commerce it brought. Now capable of fast communication, we could quickly and cheaply of transport goods and ourselves. t’s wide impact developed a independent country were we could efficiently practice a free enterprise. Bringing in trade, shipping and new exports/imports, it elevated our economy to a higher level of technology.

(flattened) the land by as much as a hundred miles a stretch. Behind them came

The environment of the west had played a major role in shaping the settlement West of the Mississippi River. As expressed in the map of the land West of the Mississippi, the geography had a significant impact on settlement. This explains the location of Grasslands, Forests, Deserts, and the location of rivers throughout western land. The geography of the land had a direct impact on the Homestead Act of 1862, which gave citizens 160 acres of land in the west as long as they stayed on the land for five years. Due to

It was originally opposed by Northern manufacturers, who feared the loss of inexpensive labor; and Southern slaveholders, who feared the development of free soil. It was intended to branch Western immigration, but numerous frontiersmen would fail and arrive home. The Homestead Act provided settlers with 160 acres of surveyed public land. By living on the property for five years and improving it, a small fee would grant the settler the land. This served as a way to encourage the development of the family farm and fill in the normally unoccupied region in the Great Plains in which railroads facilitated this growth. Because of the severe environmental circumstances of the Great Plain region, the Homestead Act turned out to be less effective than anticipated.

In a bid to encourage people onto the Plains advertisements told success stories of those who had claimed land under the terms of the Homestead Act and had become successful. It divided 2.5 million acres of Plains land into sections or homesteads of 160 acres. People could now claim 160 acres of land. The only requirement on their part was that they paid a small charge and built a house or added something to the land such as a house or a well and lived on the land for at least 5 years.

After the Transcontinental Railroad, a railway that stretched across the entire US, was completed in 1869, there were new opportunities expanding in the West. According to the Homestead Act Document which was written in May of 1862, people could obtain free land when under certain conditions, such as “...who has never borne arms against the United States Government…,” and being an approved citizen of the United States. These people were allowed a certain allotment of land in the west, and all they had to do was move there. This allowed expansion for the US, and it made more room for the massive amounts of immigrants pouring in to the country. The Homestead Act of 1862 created a positive effect on the people coming into the United States, and it helped to expand the territory of the country to potentially develop more towns and opportunities for

Since the beginning of recorded history, mankind has been caught in the middle of being

for it (Cooke 254). If it had been left to the government, it would have taken

The Homestead Act was a vital part of the Westward Expansion and a unique opportunity for people. The Homestead Act was the first time the government had ever offered free land, and the land was offered to anyone, regardless of citizenship, gender, or adulthood. Even teenagers wanting a new life started homesteads because the minimum age was 15 to own a piece of land according to the Homestead Act. It was an opportunity for many people to start their life over and to build something. However, the way was hard and fraught with difficulty but the rewards were worth the effort.

562-3). The resulting support of Westerners for this measure contributed in no small part to Lincoln’s victory that year. Representative Galusha Grow reintroduced the Homestead Bill to Congress in Lincoln’s first term, and on May 20, 1862 the president officially signed it into law (Porterfield 27). By signing the law, he created a method of westward expansion that would exist for the next 123 years and eventually was responsible for the settlement of over 270 million acres of the American landscape (Poterfield

In 1852 a political group (Free Soil Party) demand that people would be allowed to acquire free homesteads.The free homestead act was known as the most important act for the welfare The People passed in the US. Homesteads are tracts of land acquired under the homestead Act. The people of The West were poor, so of course they approved of the bill, but there was strong