Draft Term Paper 1

Duran 1

Draft Term Paper

Wilson Duran Ms. Overguard English 2

Duran 1 Title: Railroad and the Transcontinental Expedition. Question: What did the Transcontinental Railroad do in America Thesis: The Transcontinental Railroad was built to expand and develop the nation.

Duran 1

In the early 1800’s most of the people live in the east coast. The people traveled from cities to cities by horse or wagons. This was very difficult because the cities did not connect to each other; there were roads that connected all the cities from the north to the west. This connection was only possible that cities were connected to each other was when the railroad started to be built. In the 1800’s when railroad were built, most of the railroad were set in the north. This was not enough to expand the nation from coast to coast, until the transcontinental was made to expand it. The Transcontinental plan was so cities could connect to each other in a faster way. To make the transcontinental railroad took long time to be plan in congress “The possibility of railroad connecting the Atlantic and Pacific coast was discussed in the congress even before the Transcontinental Railroad Plan was made.” (www.memory.loc.gov) Congress first planned how they were going to make the plan work. Still they have problem with the railroad connection because it was long. The congress had problem creating this project because it was like the biggest project ever though to be made. Eli Whitney, great invention the steam engine let a great advantage for the railroads. “Steam Engine one of the inventions made by Whitney, made big contribution to the railroad.” (www.memory.loc.gov) Steam Engine made the railroad to travel faster and economic. It just requires that someone keep adding water to the engine and coat. Most people at first think why where railroad being built and if they were going to work. Railroad especially the Transcontinental railroad was built, one thing was to expand the nation to the west. Another thing was so people could travel faster, to connect

Duran 1 to each other from the north to south and the west. This was better service than people traveling in wagons and horses. The making of the Transcontinental railroad began when congress passed an act that allowed the transcontinental to begin to be built. “In 1862, the Pacific Railway act was passed.” (www.memory.loc.gov) This act allowed rail lines to be built throughout the West. It also allowed California to built rail lines so it could be connected with the Rail Lines of the North. The Pacific Railway act was how the Transcontinental Railroad began to be built. Two companies like built the Transcontinental Railroad. “The Project Transcontinental railroad was made by many workers, United State Government, and the two railroad companies The Central Pacific and The Union Pacific.” (www.bushong.net.) This project was the largest project ever made to build the railroad in America. That is why it took many people to work on it. Creating the Transcontinental Railroad require that many people and company work to make this plan work. “It was a national work, originating in national necessities, and requiring national assistance.” (Goodrich, 169) These mean that nation, the whole country needed to be involved with this project. This project was big that their need mostly any1 that can help. Building the Transcontinental Railroad through the West had its problem. One of the problems was the territory. “For one, much of the territory was just that ---territory--and hadn’t been accepted into the Union yet.” (Tuttle, 15). The territory was one of the main problems because in the west most of the land was still not in the union. They also got another problem and that was the Indians. They took land of the Native Americans.

Duran 1 As Tuttle says “The Indian Removal Act of 1830 had pushed many American Indians onto reserved lands that were promise to them forever, yet a transcontinental would have to go trough those lands.” (Tuttle, 15) The Congress promise the Native American lands which they never got, they just go put on reserved land, this causing more problems between the Native American and the U.S. Steam Engine, took and important part in the railroad system. As Tuttle say, “Steam engines the best of this kind, it replace the horse and made new tracks.” (Tuttle, 9). This quote means that Steam engine was better than horse. Steam Engine replaces horses, and this became a new nation transportation system. Steam engine was use as a source for many things. Steam Engine also started the Industrial Revolution, it replace human with some machines. Labor in the Transcontinental was very hard. Workers got pay minimum, the working condition were horrible. The people working in the Central Pacific Company were mostly Chinese Immigrant. “The hiring of Chinese laborers to work on the Central Pacific was not taken very well by their white counterparts, who found them “strange” and treated them poorly, sometimes even with violently.” (Tuttle, 26) Most of the workers were immigrants. They were treated badly; they were almost treated like slaves. Even Free Black Africans Americans work on the Transcontinental. Since they just got being free slave and needed to have a job, the work there. Working in the Railroad was very dangerous. Has Tuttle describe, “Railroading was thought work, and besides routine health problem and small injuries, everybody was at even greater risk.” (Tuttle 28) The people working at the railroad had hard working conditions. The weather keep messing them up. In the west also they worker constant

Duran 1 have to protect themselves from the Indians, the Indians keep attacking them but later the workers got help, soldiers were there to protect them. There was little reason why the Transcontinental started slow. “The Transcontinental Railroad’s got off to a slow start due to the Civil War and lack of investors but from year 1866 the race was on.” (Buchanan, 27) During the beginning of the creation of the Transcontinental Railroad, the Civil war began. This war slow downs the construction. This civil war did have some use of the Transcontinental Railroad. Some of the parts were the Transcontinental Rail were built, the railroad were use to carried soldiers and weapons, supplies. “The Railroad served the North in its Civil War efforts.” (Buchanan, 27). The railroad not only did it carried supply but it also was use as a route so soldiers could travel easily. After the built of the Transcontinental Railroad, the nation was changed. “The completion of the transcontinental railroad changed the nation” (www.digitalhistory.uh.edu) Western agricultural products, coal, and minerals could move faster to the east coast. Passengers could reach the west coast in a matter of days instead of months at low cost. Everything change it make traveling faster. After railroads were constructed, many people moved to the west. “By opening up eastern markets to farmers and ranchers, railroad construction also stimulated population growth on the plains.” (www.digitalhistory.uh.edu) The population in the west grew more after the railroads were constructed. Many mines open in the west. People believed that there was gold in the in Northern of California many people went there using the railroad. The transcontinental railroad took a long period to be built. “The transcontinental railroad was built in six years almost entirely by hand.” (www.digitalhistory.uh.edu).

Duran 1 Most of the work that was done in the transcontinental railroad was done by hand according to digital history; the worker did not have any mechanical or technology to help them. The only thing they use to break down mountains was with explosive. The transcontinental did many things that help many people. Not only did it make traveling easy. It also helps trading to be faster, it did not took days for people to travel from the West to the North. People caring goods before was hard for trading. Some stuff was heavy and hard to carry on wagon or horse. With the railroad this all change, trading grew more thought the west people get to explore the west more not like before. Companies got them products faster, Goods from farm and products were deliverer faster and easy. The Transcontinental Railroad did change the nation many things happen with this creation.

Duran 1

A. Buchanan, Lamont. Steel Trails and Iron Horses A Pageant of American Railroading. New York: Van Rees Press, 1955.

B. Goodrich, Carter. Government Promotions of American Canals and Railroads 1800-1890.New York: Columbia University Press, 1960.

C. Tuttle, Liza. A Multicultural Portrait of the Railroads. New York: Marshall Cavendish Corporation, 1994.

D. Emord Dawn and David Bushong. “Different Faces Behind "The Work of the Age" The Transcontinental Railroad. 20 February, 2007.

E. “Closing the Western Frontier” Digital History. 26 February, 2007.

F. “American Memory.” The Library of Congress. 1 March, 2007. < http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/gmdhtml/rrhtml/rrhome.html>