Pacific Railroad Research Paper

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

The Transcontinental Continental Railroad aided the settling of the west and closed the last of the remaining frontier, bringing newfound economic growth, such as mining farming and cattle ranching to our burgeoning country. On May 10, 1869, near Promontory Summit, Utah, a boisterous crowd gathered to witness the

Established in 1842, the US House & Senate Committees have looked back at the railroad and used it to advance the ways and means of transporting goods, supplies, mail, and people. Look at what it has done; it has served as an artery, moving what is needed throughout the entire nation from the Atlantic to the Pacific. From giving jobs to those minority groups and once former slaves after the Civil War, throwing the stock market and economy left and right, assisting Abraham Lincoln in winning elections and also winning the Civil War, helping rebuild the South and the nation’s economy from the bottom up during the reconstruction era, taming the Wild West (which has a major direct influence on the American Government System), serving as one of the best ways of getting mail to citizens across the US, and expanding intercontinental trade to have its own manifest destiny. This railroad had a significant affect in the growth of this nation and its government. It’s relationship and way it impacts the government is a result from multiple chain reactions that originated from the 1860s, 70s, 80s, etc. and I strongly believe, after all of my research, that our nations governmental system would be many decades behind if it wasn’t for the transcontinental

The research in this paper will come from three basic sources. The first source is over the internet. Using the key words Underground, Railroad and Ohio, articles and books will be found. The library will be the second source. Again the key words, Underground, Railroad and Ohio will be used to find and books and newspapers containing valuable information. A local specialist by the name of Mr. Henry Burke will be the third source for this paper. He will provide newspaper articles and stories that he discovered during his research. Interviews with him will also provide valuable insights into the knowledge he has gained throughout his research.

The building of the First Transcontinental Railroad was a key symbol of the Industrial Revolution beginning in the United States. The railroad crossed the middle of the country and connected the eastern portion to the west. The building began in Sacramento, California and continued all the way to Council Bluffs, Iowa, resulting in 1,776 miles of new rails that were a staple for both the transportation of people and goods. Less lives were lost on the hazardous trails through the Rocky Mountains and thus the West Coast experienced an increase in population. The railroad greatly impacted the nation, as it united the people and also allowed for the improvement of the speed of shipment and price of goods throughout the nation. With the constant

Trains can offer an efficient way to transport goods over very long distances, it's not a surprising fact in the 1850’s T’was a time of westward expansions for the united states, as the gold rush’s of both california and nevada pushed Americans further right into the heart of the west to have them prosper into a super power.

Working on a railroad is a dangerous job even in modern times. Thousands of people are hurt either working on railroads or being around railroads each year (Schottenstein, 2015). Therefore, as you can imagine, injuries and deaths were happening at an even higher rate in the 1800s. Phineas Gage was a railroad worker doing a job in Vermont

When the Union Pacific Railroad starts building, it is in 1862, in the middle of the Civil War. There was a lack of labor since most people went to fight. Because of the lack of workers, during the whole Civil War, only forty miles of track were laid from Omaha by the Union Pacific. However, when the Civil War ended in 1865, the construction went much faster. The U.P. employed Irish immigrants and Civil War veterans to build the railroad. The workers laid 1,087 miles of track between Omaha, NE and Utah.

In the late 1800s, the transcontinental railroad was underway from being built. For many in that day and age it meant a multitude of opportunities. But for others, it meant that everything that they had worked hard to bring into the world was going to come crashing down on them.

“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

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

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

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.

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.

Railroads became extremely popular in America in the 1800’s. The railroad industry itself began to boom; it was supported by its reputation for speed and efficiency. But, along with the booming industry of railroads came the strong debate that