The Trancontinental Railroad
The Trancontinental RailroadBlake Higgins 4/29/00
Vail Mountain School Grade 8
The Transcontinental Railroad
Although many changes occurred in the mid 1800�s in America, such as the Industrial Revolution and the Civil War, the Transcontinental Railroad profoundly changed the U.S. This tremendous project, partly funded by Congress, was one of the key factors that encouraged foreign immigration to America. The Transcontinental Railroad certainly instilled a sense of overwhelming pride in this nation, and it paved the way for the development of the West; however, the construction of the railroad relied upon slave-like labor and the usurpation of Native American lands. Indeed, the Transcontinental Railroad was a monumental accomplishment for the United States, but it came at the expense of many people.
Before 1845, the thought of a Transcontinental Railroad was absurd. In 1832, Dr. Hartwell Carver of Rochester proposed a railroad that would connect the East Coast to the West Coast, and lawmakers laughed at him. Again, in 1838, another man by the name of John Plum sent a petition to Washington asking the government to fund a Transcontinental Railroad. Congress said that, asking the government �To build a railroad to the moon� was impractical (Blumberg 11). In 1845, Asa Whitney changed the government�s mind about constructing a railroad. He proposed a plan for the federal
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government to fund a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. Whitney was motivated by frustration. It took months to get American made goods to Asia. Therefore, a Transcontinental Railroad across the United States would increase trade with countries in the Eastern Hemisphere because it would take a substantially shorter time to reach Asia from the West Coast. In return, America would receive silk, spices, tea, and other foreign made goods. The settlement of the Oregon territory and the discovery of gold in California increased support for the massive project. In Whitney�s argument he stated, �Only a Transcontinental Railroad could develop the wilderness West of the Great Lakes� (Blumberg 12). Although support for a Transcontinental Railroad was strong, Northern states opposed because a railroad in the Southern states would increase Southern revenue. The Northerners said that this would interrupt the balance of power.
On July 1, 1862 Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act. �The Act stated that two railroad companies would receive free of charge a 400 foot right away through public lands, and alternating grants of 10 square mile sections of land per mile of track� (Faragher 683). The two companies would also receive mineral rights on adjacent land. The total land grant from the government amounted to over forty-five million acres. The companies were authorized to build a line Westward from Omaha, Nebraska to Sacramento, California. Both sides would be built simultaneously toward each other. The names of the two railroad companies would be Union Pacific and Central Pacific; these were the companies chartered by Congress. �The government would pay each company in...
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