Railroads Transform the Nation

An Industrial Society1860-1914

Chapter 20, Section 2

Guess How This Relates?

Essential Questions

• How can a transportation system influence a countries’ economy?

• Who funded the building of the transcontinental railroad? Why?

• Who helped to build the first transcontinental railroad?

• How did the building of the transcontinental railroad impact the United States?

Why Build A Transcontinental Railroad?

• Encourage Settlement of the West

• Develop the Economy of the United States

• Bring Natural Resources of the West to Eastern Factories

• Connect the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific (Manifest Destiny)

Central Pacific Railroad &Union Pacific Railroad Co.

• U.S. Government Hired 2 Companies to Build the Transcontinental Railroad

• Central Pacific Railroad: – Start in Sacramento

California & Build East

• Union Pacific Railroad:– Start in Omaha

Nebraska & Build West

Central Pacific Railroad

Union Pacific Railroad

Railroad Companies Needed $$$ to Build Across

the U.S.• U.S. Government

Gave Union Pacific & Central Pacific $$$ Millions in Loans

• U.S. Also Gave 20 Miles of Land for FREEFREE for Every 1 Mile of Track Built

• Railroad Companies Sold the Extra Land! $$$ Money & New Customers!

Central Pacific Railroad• Sacramento,

California: Built from West to East

• Faced a Labor Shortage:– No Workers– Most Workers left to

Become Miners (Gold Strikes)

• Hired Chinese Workers to Replace Them

Benefits of Hiring the Chinese!

• Chinese Workers Turned Out to Be Great Workers!

• Hardworking, Efficient, & Fearless

• Chinese Culture/Custom Drinks TEA!– Boiled Water– No Bacteria! – Workers Were Never Sick!

• Over 10,000 Chinese Were Hired by the Central Pacific Railroad

Union Pacific Railroad

• Omaha, Nebraska: Built East to West

• Hired Mostly Irish Immigrants

• Why Irish? Any Ideas?

Building the Transcontinental Railroad

Transcontinental Railroad

• Central Pacific

• Chinese

• California

• Union

• Pacific

• Irish

• Nebraska

Promontory Point, Utah

• May 10th, 1869

• Transcontinental Railroad was Completed at Promontory Point, Utah

• What Was the Story?

Extension of the Transcontinental Railroad

(1869-1900)

How Did Railroads Alter Time?

• All Communities Used to Calculate Time Based on the Sun (Solar Time)

• Railroads Changed All of That!

• Railroads Created Standard Time Zones

Standard Time Zones in U.S.

What Time Is It?

• If it’s 5pm in New York, What Time is it in Denver, Colorado?

• If it’s 5pm in New York, What Time is it in Los Angeles, California?

• If it’s 7am in Fargo, North Dakota, What Time is it in New York?

• If it’s 6:15 am in Tucson, Arizona, What Time is it in Boston, Massachusetts?

Economic Benefits of the Transcontinental Railroad

• Railroads Carried Natural Resources from the West to Eastern Markets

• Lumber, Livestock, Cattle, Grains, Minerals, Etc…

• Eastern Cities Manufactured Natural Resources, Sold Products to the West & the World

• $$$ for the U.S.!

Railroads Settle the West

• Railroads Were Lifelines for Settlers

• Trains Provided Lumber, Farm Equipment, Food, & Other Necessities

• No Longer Did Settlers Have to Live Near Water:– Just Had to Live Near a

Railroad!

• More Exploration & Settlement of the West!

What Was the Railroads Impact on Native

Americans?

Proposed New Transportation Railway

System in U.S.

Essential Questions

• How can a transportation system influence a countries’ economy?

• Who funded the building of the transcontinental railroad? Why?

• Who helped to build the first transcontinental railroad?

• How did the building of the transcontinental railroad impact the United States?