'Major Problems In California' By Michael Kazin

The article, “Creating the System: Railroads and the Modern Corporation”, informs us all about the development of the transcontinental railroad and how it helped drive the nation west and also transformed western North America into a economy that had many opportunities. The railroads have always interested me when it comes to this period of time. What I learned from the reading that I didn’t know before was that the Western railroads were primary carriers of grain, other agricultural produce, livestock, coal, lumber and minerals. Also seeing the prices that the farmers shipped their products for, and what they paid for the freights rates was very interesting. Overall, if the railroads wouldn’t have been built in a time when there was so little

Richard White’s 2011 book titled Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America is about the corrupt and mismanaged transcontinental railroads and bold arguments of the story how they came and went. In this book White describes how the construction of the transcontinental railroads across the US in the late nineteenth century would change America socially, economically, and politically. He also describes the companies that built these railroads and argues with three main points on why they were corrupt companies. First I’d like to go over the three different ways that the railroads would affect America, socially, economically, and politically.

The transcontinental railroad was the most influential innovation of the United States, that brought a revolution of how people traveled. One year after the Civil War ended the people of the United States were looking for a way to unite their country back together. This helped mold the United States as to what it has become today. It helped people cross the country and improved how goods were transported. The man that was forming the transcontinental railroad was a merchant named Asa Whitney. He had asked the government for funding to construct one of the greatest innovation of the United States. “Two railroads, the Central Pacific starting in San Francisco and a new railroad, the Union Pacific, starting in Omaha, Nebraska, would build the rail-line.” (ushistory.org). One fear of building the railroad was the danger of the “Great American Desert” because of the lack of resources. The Central Pacific was primarily made by Chinese immigrants. The Union Pacific was primarily made up of Irish immigrants. By spring of 1866 the Central Pacific had only build 68 miles of track from Sacramento, while the Union Pacific going west from Omaha built 200 miles of track in less than a year. Therefore the Union Pacific made millions more. The next three years the railroads would continue to try and make history.

On May 10, 1869 as the “Last Spike” struck by Leland Stanford now connected the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads across the United States at Promontory Summit in the Utah Territory. The transcontinental railroads now complete and America is now destined to move to the forefront of the world’s stage. This new railroad system encouraged the growth of American businesses and promoted the development of the nation’s public discourse and intellectual life.1 At the same time, this new railroad affected many people positively

No other single factor contributed more the commercial and social development of the Pacific Northwest than the arrival of the railroad. For the first time in history, people could get to the west coast in a matter of

The Transcontinental Railroad was one of the most ambitious engineering projects, economic stimulants, and efficient methods of transportation in the early United States. If completed, the United States would be truly be united from east to west. The purpose of this paper is to examine how the Transcontinental Railroad helped develop new opportunities for many aspects of American life.

An astounding invention in the nineteenth century transformed America. Towns sprang up where only barren land had once been, families reconnected and and crossed the continent together, and immigrants poured into the Land of Opportunity. Few technological advancements had enough influence to impact so many people and places, but the Transcontinental Railroad was one of those rare cases. From 1863 to 1869, the Railroad expanded over the continent. This project had many unforeseen effects, whether social, economic, or political. The Transcontinental Railroad affected America the most socially by changing travel for the average American, uprooting the American Indians, and leading to more prejudice against immigrants.

For many American settlers, the Great Plains area didn’t spark much interest. But many were beginning to change their minds in the years leading up to the Civil War. As the Continental railroad was beginning to move westward, many were beginning to realize how wrong they were. “Settlers in Kansas found no desert, but millions of acres of fertile soil.”(DOC 1) Many settlers raced to the west to try to snag a plot of land in the west to hopefully start a new chapter in their lives. The transcontinental railroad also helped businesses boom by transporting goods much faster by the railroad. Also, the transcontinental railroad didn’t only transport goods to businesses, it also transported settlers from coast to coast. “After the transcontinental railroad was completed, it cost $150 and took one week. For the first time, U.S. Americans could freely travel from coast to coast. This radically changed both business and pleasure travel.”(How the Transcontinental Railroad Changed America) For many settlers, the transcontinental railroad was revolutionizing transportation. From delivering goods, to transporting people across the coast. We can all agree the transcontinental railroad

Prior to the Gold Rush of 1849, California was a meagerly populated, an irrelevant area of the United States for the most part possessed by the general population of Mexico. In any case, that all changed when on January 24, 1848; woodworker and little time sawmill administrator James W. Marshall found a gold piece in the American River that would always show signs of change the historical backdrop of California and America1. Not exclusively did the Gold Rush prompt California 's permission into the Union in 1850, it additionally revived the possibility of the American Dream. Hundred 's of thousands of individuals filled the state by the draw of brisk and unending wealth. Because of the Gold Rush, California in the end turned into a

Western expansionism of the United States fulfilled itself with the completion of the Transcontinental railroad in 1869. The railroad had been a thought since the early 1800s, but that tree bore no fruit until President Abraham Lincoln signed the Railway Act of 1862. This piece of legislation was a landmark for the United States, as it gave the financial responsibility of the railroad to the federal government. The Railway Act of 1862 also gave two companies the task of constructing and operating the Transcontinental railroad, these companies being the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific, respectively. In an article written for The Journal of Economic History, author Xavier Duran states, ‘During the second half of the 1840s and most of the 1850s, trade with the Pacific area boomed. China opened to trade and California experienced a gold rush and was annexed by the United States. Entrepreneurs and governments in different parts of the world competed to facilitate transportation to the Pacific Ocean.’ (Duran, 2013) The discovery of gold and the ensuing gold rush of 1849 (still famous today as the San Francisco NFL team the ‘49ers) created vast wealth and entrepreneurial opportunities. President

After the gold rush, transportation improvements were being made, immigration was going up and so was mining. The 49’s were the first people to reach the mines, although this was not good news, the 49’rs did increase the immigration to California which led to Diversity also had an impact since people from all over the East were beginning to move West. The rising of mining began the idea of creating a bank system which became very successful. Today California's transportation, traveling, and banking industries continue to be successful. Agriculture has dominated California's territory since 1848 and is now the largest. Although immigrants have not lived in California their whole life, they have expanded their views and skills by being surrounded with multiple cultures. Spanish speaking individuals brought the language and religion in California. After California became an official state in the 1850s was when the immigration of Hispanics began to move

To start, I will explain the purpose of the Transcontinental railroad. In Source #1”Full Steam Ahead The Transcontinental Railroad”, it says “People had been asking for coast-to-coast rail travel for decades. Since the invention of the locomotive in 1825, companies had built many rail lines. These railroads connected eastern cities and seaports,splashing travel times and helping these areas grow. Crossing the country, however was much more difficult. People and trade goods traveled by horse, stagecoach, or wagon train. The trip took months. Not many made the journey.” So the government during the time thought that building a railroad, would help businesses “ sprout up like corn.” According to Source #1 it also says “ Two companies immediately got to work. Railroads already existed that stretched from the East of Omaha, Nebraska. Now, the Union Pacific Railroad began extending the tracks from Omaha out to the West. The Central Pacific Railroad began in Sacramento,California and laid tracks out East. Eventually, the two companies would meet in Promontory, Utah. So, basically the purpose of the railroad was to get people and goods from coast-to-coast.

The California Gold Rush was an event that lasted from January 24th, 1848 to 1855. The event was driven mainly by the large quantities of gold reserves that were discovered in the soon to be US state of California. This event caused many Americans to move from the eastern states and middle states to California with the hopes of finding gold. In this paper, I will analyze the economy at the time the gold rush started and attempt to answer the question of why individuals found it necessary or advantageous to move out to California in pursuit of gold. I will also consider personal accounts and editorials written to gain a more personal narrative of the conditions people were experiencing as well as their mindsets in deciding whether to move to California for the gold or not.

Prompt: In what ways did developments in transportation bring about economic and social change in the United States in the period 1820-1860?

With all these travelers from the east and different country made California a “melting pot” of different people and culture. When news that California that had gold began to spread outside of the United State it first hit Mexico and Hawaii lead to the first wave of immigrants with the purpose of mining. Then, news the quickly across the world from South America to Europe and from Australian to Asian, the impact was so big that the text said, “Irish immigration to the United States, already at 100,000 a year in 1847, more than double to 220,000 by 1851” (Gillon, 297). With all these people mining towns would quickly pop up across California, and these towns with every race you could think such as Black, French, Irish, Chinese, Mexican, and etc. The towns were constantly busy with people moving to and from mine and rivers. With a day or a week of work could make you a nice amount of profit, you could entertain yourself for a while before you had to go back to mining with bars, gambling parlors, and whore house. Prostitutes made good money because in text said that, “ One prostitute in California Boasted of making more than $50000in a year.” (Gillon, 297). I could imagine myself being there if I made it there.