Central Pacific Railroads In The 1870's

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

In the second half of the 1800 's, the railroad, which was invented in England,

Its social and economic impacts dwell greatly in the 1800’s to the era of 2000’s as trains have always turned America into something greater in those times where travel and transport were at its hardest, but in 1862 congress passed a bill in which it would forge new history all together with the Pacific Railroad Bill and several grants that allowed financial support for Railroad companies primarily Central Pacific

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.

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

“If any act symbolized the taming of the Northwest frontier, it was the driving of the final spike to complete the nation’s first transcontinental railroad.”1 The first railroad west of the Mississippi River was opened on December 23, 1852. Five miles long, the track ran from St. Louis to Cheltanham, Missouri. Twenty-five years prior, there were no railroads in the United States; twenty-five years later, railroads joined the east and west coasts from New York to San Francisco.2

The significance of the transcontinental railroads and the impact they made is quite profound. The first transcontinental line’s construction was chartered by the government in the Pacific Railroad Act. Construction of the line, which ran between Omaha Nebraska to Sacramento California, began in 1863 and it was completed in 1869. By 1900, other transcontinental lines, like the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Great Northern Railway, were in place and connected by numerous feeder lines, junctions, and

In 1860, the United States had more railroad track than the rest of the world combined. Shipping freight by rail became much more practical and affordable, easily beating out the use of steamboats. The railroad directly led to the increase of urban centers. Chicago, for example, virtually quadrupled its population during the 1850’s. By the 1880’s, there were at least 93, 267 miles of rail that stretched across the plains and just ten years later, there were 163,597 miles of rail. By 1862, Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Act, which gave the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroads responsibility for building the transcontinental railroad. Congress also granted both railroads lands and millions of dollars of government loans. May 10, 1869, after six long years of hard intensive labor, the tracks of the two railroads finally met at

On May 10th in 1869, the transcontinental railroad was officially opened. The last railroad spike was driven into the ground with a hammer. This railroad traveled from California to Nebraska. When it was first completed, it stretched over 9,000 miles. Almost ten years later, it reached over 30,000 miles. This was a major step in improving the United States. The transcontinental railroad improved the United States because it boosted the economy, helped commerce grow and assisted in settlement by linking the East coast to the West coast together.

During this time, railroads were improving and growing as a means of common transportation. 10 years before the Homestead Act was approved, about 128 million acres of land were already reserved and granted to the government for railroad construction (Anna Khomina). Migrators were issued plots around railroads in order to continue funding as well as create job opportunities in construction and regulation. As the western frontier widened, and eventually disappeared, proposals for a transcontinental railroad began to arise. In 1862, Congress answered the people’s demands and passed the Pacific Railroad Act; with this, railroads would be connected across the nation, from California all the way to New England (http://law.jrank.org/pages/8984/Pacific-Railroad-Act.html). This intrigued western habitants because it allowed for easy transportation of goods in the newly growing corporations and businesses. The government was not the only driving force for Western settlers; many found individual factors that sparked their new

also saw the passage of the Pacific Railroad Act which provided land for the PacificRailroad. “It doubled federal land grants to ten sections per mile ‘within 20 miles on each side of the tracks.’ And it liberalized the term ‘mineral rights’ by forfeiting all iron and coal deposits on the grant lands to the railroad companies.” (Howard 170) It also offered subsidy to other efforts at building “trunk line” railroads. According to

During the nineteenth century, beginning in the early 1800s, there was a series of events that occurred in the United States which we refer to today as the Westward Expansion. The Westward Expansion of the United States is a defining theme in the nineteenth century. It had a large impact on both the American people and the native Indians and Mexicans that had already lived there. The westward expansion effected four major things: the size of the United States, the native Indians and Mexicans that already lived among the land, and today’s transportation. The process of expanding the land westward took several years and had both negative and positive outcomes, but it was a huge factor in shaping the United States into the country it is today.

Some historians believe the Transcontinental Railroad was one of the greatest achievements of the nineteenth century. Looking at the railroad from an outsider’s view, the outcomes that emerged from this great innovation were overwhelmingly positive. At last, the East and West could unite through one easy method of transportation. Trade could flourish and be delivered faster than ever thought possible. Small towns and communities clustered around these train stations. The railroad caused the creation of time zones, caused coal factories to become metaphorical gold mines and the American economy exploded as a result of this great feat. Despite its ability to unify the East and West coasts, however the First Transcontinental Railroad actually was not a blessing for all people living in the United States; the immigrants involved in the construction and the natives living in the area that it passed through were dramatically and negatively affected. The railroad may have brought together the continent geographically, but its construction was marked by immorality, racism, and segregation, which pitted the immigrant workers against the American people. The Native Americans were treated as obstacles, as their land was disregarded and the railroad workers were granted permission to remove or take anything from their land. The Chinese immigrants throughout the West were not welcomed there and were not treated with respect, even after their hard work on the railroad. Similar working

Before the Pacific Rail Way Act was in action, there was much interest and need for a cross country railroad. The first railroad that was used in the states was along the east coast but unfortunately had minimal stops. In the 1840’s the railway expanded, extending throughout the east, south, and Midwest. This allowed more trades, but affected the way of life of the native Americans. Around the 1850’s congress sponsored numerous

The railroad was first developed in Great Britain. A man named GEORGE STEPHENSON successfully applied the steam technology of the day and created the world's first successful locomotive. The first engines used in the United States were purchased from the STEPHENSON WORKS in England. Even rails were largely imported from England until the Civil War. Americans who had visited England to see new STEAM LOCOMOTIVES were impressed that railroads dropped the cost of shipping by carriage by 60-70%.