Transcontinental Railroad

Examples of Transcontinental Railroad in the following topics:

• The Transcontinental Railroads

  • Completed in 1869, the Transcontinental Railroad served as a vital link for trade, commerce, and travel between the East and West of the United States.
  • The First Transcontinental Railroad was built between 1863 and 1869 to join the eastern and western halves of the United States.
  • The railroad also led to a great decline of traffic on the Oregon and California Trail, which had helped populate much of the West.
  • The Transcontinental Railroad provided much faster, safer, and cheaper transportation for people and goods across the western two-thirds of the continent.
  • Workers celebrating the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869.

• The Mormon Exodus

  • The well organized wagon train migration began in earnest in April 1847, and the period (including the flight from Missouri in 1838 to Nauvoo) known as the Mormon Exodus is, by convention among social scientists, traditionally assumed to have ended with the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in 1869.
  • Wagon train migrations to the far west continued sporadically until the 20th century, but not everyone could afford to uproot and transport a family by railroad, and the transcontinental railroad network only serviced limited main routes.
  • The trail was used for more than 20 years, until the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in 1869.

• The Transformation of the West

  • The West was most notably transformed through the railroads, increase in crime rates, and the rise of industry during the Gilded Age.
  • As railroads traversed the nation, crime became a major problem, and the rise of industry prompted a response by environmentalists.
  • The Pacific Railroad Act was passed in 1862, which authorized construction of both the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific railroad lines.
  • Six transcontinental railroads were built in total during the Gilded Age.
  • The Golden Spike united the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroad lines.

• Oregon and the Overland Trails

  • Use of the trail declined as the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, making the trip west substantially faster, cheaper, and safer.
  • The stage line operated until 1869, when completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad eliminated the need for mail service via stagecoach.

• Government During the War

  • With the establishment of the Confederacy, Republicans in Congress enacted sweeping federal changes, including implementation of the Morrill Tariff and passage of the Homestead Act, Pacific Railroad Act, and National Banking Act.
  • The Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 promoted the construction of the transcontinental railroad in the United States.
  • The government provided land grants to railroad companies and issued government bonds for financing.
  • These opportunities encouraged railroad-construction companies to open up the western plains and California.
  • Railroads were also encouraged to sell tracts for family farms at low prices with extended credit.

• The Mormons

  • The period (including the flight from Missouri in 1838 to Nauvoo) known as the "Mormon Exodus" is, by convention among social scientists, traditionally assumed to have ended with the completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869.
  • Wagon train migrations to the far west continued sporadically until the twentieth century, but not everyone could afford to uproot and transport a family by railroad, and the transcontinental railroad network only serviced limited main routes.

• Expansion and the Mexican-American War

  • Other significant events included the opening of the Oregon Trail; the Mormon Emigration to Utah in 1846–47; the California Gold Rush of 1849; the Colorado Gold Rush of 1859; and the completion of the nation's First Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869.

• Territorial Government

  • The law was especially important in the settling of the Plains states, although many farmers purchased their land from railroads at low rates.
  • The Pacific Railway Acts of 1862 provided for the land needed to build the Transcontinental Railroad.
  • The land given to the railroads alternated with government-owned tracts saved for distribution to homesteaders.

• Transportation: Roads, Canals, and Railroads

  • Railroads provided a quick, scheduled, and year-round mode of transportation.
  • Railroads were superior to water routes in that they provided a safer, less hazardous mode of transport.
  • The most prominent early railroad was the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (B&O), which linked the port of Baltimore to the Ohio River and offered passenger and freight service as of 1830.
  • Celebration of completion of the Transcontinental Railroad on May 10, 1869
  • Railroads came to play a major role in westward expansion in the late nineteenth century.

• The Western Frontier

  • The completion of the first transcontinental railroad in 1869 dramatically changed the pace of travel in the country, as people were able to complete in a week a route that had previously taken months.
  • Money was a constant concern, as the cost of railroad freight was exorbitant, and banks were unforgiving of bad harvests.
  • As the railroad expanded and better farm equipment became available, by the 1870s, large farms began to succeed through economies of scale.
  • In addition, ranchers capitalized on newly available railroad lines to move longhorn steers that populated southern and western Texas.
  • Although the town was far from any railroad, 20,000 people lived there as of 1876.