Negative and Positive Impact of the Transcontinental Railroad

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.

The construct of the Transcontinental railroad began in 1863 and ended in 1869. After it was complete people used it very much to travel across the country and people still it today to travel to places. People offend only believe the railroad was one of the most amazing that happen to our country and it only caused great things to happen. However, this is not all true. The railroad did cause great things like it helped increase westward expansion in the United States of America but it also caused a lot of horrible things like causing the removal of many Native American tribes in the west. So, after the Transcontinental Railroad was completed, there were positives effect but also negative effects that occur in the US.

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

Its social and economic impacts dwell greatly in the 1800’s to the era of 2000’s as trains have always turned America into something greater in those times where travel and transport were at its hardest, but in 1862 congress passed a bill in which it would forge new history all together with the Pacific Railroad Bill and several grants that allowed financial support for Railroad companies primarily Central Pacific

During the early stages of the Civil War, railroads proved to have a phenomenal effect on achieving the Union victory over the Confederacy. The railroads not only helped to transport soldiers and goods throughout the Union sufficiently, but also increased the production rate and preservation of manufacturing. Upon seeing the power of railroads in war efforts, the Pacific Railroad Act was passed in 1862, which provided federal bonds and land grants for building a transcontinental railroad, along a northern route("Landmark Legislation:The Pacific Railroad Act"). The act pronounced that "the said corporation is hereby authorized and empowered to layout,

“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.

The building of the Transcontinental Railroad changed everything. It was started in 1860 and finished on May 10, 1869. The Transcontinental Railroad was a railroad that linked the eastern and western United States. There were many benefits that came with the Transcontinental Railroad, but where there are pros, there are also cons. The Transcontinental Railroad affected everyone from the Indians, to the Chinese, to the environment.

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.

The technological advancement of transportation through the creation of the railroad system had a revolutionary impact upon America as a nation. Trains was the primary way to travel at this time, but the creation of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 would have greater impacts than anyone could have imagined. This railroad was extremely unique because it was the first time a person could travel to the west coast from the east coast in one trip. It played a big part in unifying the North and South, helped the economy boom, and transformed America into the most industrialized country in the world. The nation received huge benefits from this new railroad system, as industry was able to boom all throughout the nation. A system of interdependence

The transcontinental Railroad was completed on May 10, 1869. It had started in 1830 and took almost 4 decades to finish. By 1850 the track was about 9,000 miles long east of the Missouri River. At about the same time many people were moving west. It was a dangerous path over mountains, rivers, and deserts. Before the Transcontinental Railroad it cost almost $1,000 ($31,250.00 in 2015) to travel across the country, after the railroad it cost only $100 ($4,687.50 in

to many cities two decades of rail roads have been built (history.com). during this time

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