Transcontinental Railroad Essay

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

Business growth on both sides of the country was expedited by a new form of cheap distribution into profitable, expanding markets. Easy transportation facilitated the concept of business travel and expansion on an unprecedented scale. However, some of the largest impacts of the Transcontinental Railroad can be seen through the cross­country exchange of ideas. Before the railroad existed, the only fast exchange of information was written through the pony express. The Transcontinental Railroad created an outlet of communicating new ideas and information in person. A smooth and swift cross­country exchange of people and ideas not only made America more infrastructurally sophisticated ­­ it acted as a foundation for the Western United States to grow from very little to the political, social, economic, and technological center that it is today.

Through the development of a transcontinental railroad system, the west was settled and many American dreams were in reach.

The Transcontinental Railroad is a contiguous network of railroad track that crosses a continental landmass with terminals at different oceans or continental borders. Construction began in 1863 and concluded in 1868; the tracks stretched 1,776 miles long, connecting the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. The idea of building this monumental rail line was present in America decades before the Pacific Railroad Acts of 1862 authorized the construction. The Pacific Railroad Acts were passed because at the end of the American Civil War, the southern Democrats (who opposed the idea) were now absent from Congress; therefore, the republicans

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.

The Transcontinental Railroad is a marvel of engineering and perseverance. A transcontinental railroad is railroad that crosses through a continent. It was built between 1862 and 1869 across the United States. The initial project was proposed in 1845, but it took more time to start the dangerous construction. It had multiples consequences for the United States, not all positive. But the Transcontinental Railroad did affect the westward expansion.

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

“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

“Before the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, it cost nearly $1,000 dollars to travel across the country. After the railroad was completed, the price dropped to $150 dollars.”(History.com Staff). Prior to the railroad the average citizen of America could not afford to travel across the country cheaply. America waited for a means of transportation which would connect them from the Western to Eastern states. The responsibility of creating the railroads were left up to construction companies. Once this invention was created, traveling became quick, easy and affordable. The Transcontinental Railroad could be defined as the most significant change in America, during the 19th Century.

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

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.

At the peak of expansion in the 1800’s, communication between the east and west was at the forefront of importance. A document from the State of Pennsylvania regarding railways in 1825 remarked that there is extreme “importance and necessity of effecting a communication between the eastern and western divisions of the commonwealth” (Wade, 5). The appearance of the railroads in the early 19th century decreased and nearly diminished the communication gap as it provided a reliable and speedy method of communication. As the railroads became more prominent across the United States, the western states naturally became linked to the Midwestern and eastern states through the Union Pacific Railroad. This railroad running from the east coast to the west coast opened up new doors in trans-continental communication. Businesses between the east and the west were able to communicate more effectively, and thus, trans-continental trade became more defined throughout the United States. The mail services began using railroads as well, which was a large factor in improving communication across the US. Trans-continental communication was broadened simply by the increased number of people traveling across the country. And, even when the railroads seemed an impractical method of transportation, “they might make possible long

Transportation was one challenge the railroad fixed. People could now travel and discover the frontier faster. Trade was also increased once the tracks were finished. Many could now take their items to new areas to make trades. Another nuisance that the transcontinental railroad corrected was the communication gap. Settlers were often isolated, so when the railroad was completed other settlers would meet up to chat and help one another out. The last major impact the completion of the transcontinental railroad created was the opportunity for new jobs. Silver mining in Comstock Lode, Nevada and gold mining in the Black Hills created many jobs for settlers. Railroad companies may have helped the United States, but they would capitalize off of the government. These companies did so through the Pacific Railway Acts. The Pacific Railway Acts provided loans and land grants to railroad companies in order to help the companies raise money for the construction of new railroads. In return the government would get discounted rates to send troops and mail. By the end of these acts, “Congress and granted over 131 million acres of land to railroad companies.” (Holt McDougal, 590). The transcontinental railroad had improved many things, but that’s not all this railroad