The document discusses the construction of the first transcontinental railroad in the United States in the 1860s. It summarizes the various proposals over the decades to build such a railroad, the debate over potential routes, the Pacific Railroad Acts that incentivized and funded the construction by the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads, the main immigrant worker groups of Irish and Chinese who built it, and the impacts on trade, travel, Native Americans, and the connectedness of the country. Completion in 1869 united the eastern and western United States by rail and transformed the nation.

1. Transcontential
Railroad
Paige Bradley

2. Transportation Before the
Railroad
Wagon Trails
Ships

3. Early Talk of
It
Pacific Railroad
 proposed to grant lands, subsidies, and even as
much as 90 million dollars towards the construction
of this railroad had been periodically introduced in
Congress since the early 1840's
Gold Rush of 1849
 Discovery of gold in California led to a large amount
of people to move to the West
 By 1850, only 57% of the population livened east of
the Alleghenies and on he Atlantic Seaboard
 Due to this there was a need for Congress to start
construction

4. Different Routes
Northern Route Southern Route
 Trade to the  Trade from the agricultural
manufacturing North South
 Did not want slavery to  Jefferson Davis
become an active
 A southern route would be
practice in the New West cost-effective, but had vested
Southern interests
After the Southern Congressmen
left Congress, because of the
southern states seceding 1861, the
Congressmen left voted for a
Northern Route.

5. Companies
Union Pafcific Central Pacific
 December 2nd, 1863  January 8th, 1863
 Omaha, Nebraska  Sacramento, California
 Ex-  Chinese immigrants
soldiers, Mormons, and
Irish immigrants

6. Pacific Railroad Acts
Each railroad company, after completion
of an initial 40 mi of track, was to be
granted 6,400 acres of public lands and a
loan of from $16,000 to $48,000 for each
mile of track laid.
In 1864, Congress doubled the land
grant, considerably eased the terms of
government loans, and allowed the two
railroad companies to borrow private
capital

7. The workers
were mainly
made up of
Irish and
Chinese
Immigrants

8. Union Pacific
Workers
Irish Immigrants
Potato Famine of 1845 brought immigrants over
Railroad offered several jobs to unskilled immigrants
The railroad workers, labored under extremely dangerous
conditions, and for as little as a dollar per day. Hundreds
died on the job from avalanches, heat, accidents, and
Native American attacks.
They were not glorified for all of their scarifies that they
made to make this dream a reality
In this time frame, the Irish were seen as a step above
African Americas and a step below other white citizens and
immigrants.

9. Central Pacific
Workers
Chinese Immigrants
 Overpopulation and proverty in China led to an influx of Chinese
immigants to the West Coast
 People in charge of the constuction of the railroad, had adverstising sent
over to China to draw immigrants to America to work on the railroad
 Thousands of men signed prepaid labor contracts that included free
transoceanic passage to the West Coast of the United States
 When the foreman was forced to hire some Chinese workers he was
very surpirsed to see that they had an amazing work effort
 Animosity towards the Chinese culminated in the Chinese Exclusion Act
of 1882, although they were one of the main factors the Transconitental
Railroad was completed

10. Effects on Native
Americans
 Migration to the west, the Native American way
of live was already compromised. Their culture
became more decimated with the construction of
the Transcontinental Railroad
 The workers had to kill off whole herds of buffalo
to guarantee the route that was decided on
 Buffalo hunters worked for railroad companies,
changing the lives and cultures of Native Americans
forever.
 Native Americans started to attack the workers
because they were fed up with the mistreatment
of their people

11. Race to Promontory Point,
Utah
Reward April 30
Central Pacific
The railroads would
Reaches Promontory
get loans and the
Point
land for all the track
they built May 10
Central Pacific Drove last spike into
railroad, finally joining
690 track-mile from
the East and West
Sacramento
Union Pacific Travel Time Reduced
6 Months to 6 Days
1,086 from Omaha

12. Driving of the Last Golden Spike

13. Impact on the World
 Now people could travel from one side of the country in about a
weeks time
 Thee culture and way of life for the Native Americans also
changed
 “It was an irrevocable marker of encroaching white society, that
unstoppable force which would force Indians onto reservations within
decades.”
 The amount and rate of trade skyrocketed after the completion
of the railroad
 The ability to ship across country made it easier for people all over the
country to experience the same thing as their counterparts in other parts
in the country
 The amount and rate of trade skyrocketed after the completetion of the
railroad.

14. Significance Today
In 1971, Congress created Amtrak, a
federally subsidized corporation to take
over most long-distance passenger rail.
Showed the world the importance of
quick trade and the importance of
innovated ways to ship goods

15. Transcontiental Railroad
The Good The Bad
 Quick travel  Mistreatment of
 Importance of new ways Immigrants
to trade  Discrimination of
 Connected the country Immigrants
 The World grew smaller  Destruction of the
 Other countries had to Native American way of
compete with America, life
because of trade