Impact of Transcontinental Railroad In assessing the legacy
- Slides: 8
Impact of Transcontinental Railroad
• • “In assessing the legacy of the Transcontinental Railroad, its overall impact on the American West is monumental. Author T. H. Watkins notes that "Once the rails were joined at Promontory, . . . we began for the first time, truly, to think of ourselves as a continental nation. " (The West) From a century of retrospect, the construction of the railroad stands as a event that is, at its roots, American. The mobilization of money, resources, and people, all spurred by the federal government, was remarkable for the time. The fact that the riches of the companies were built on the backs of underpaid Americans and immigrants is also a telling point. The construction could not have happened without the teamwork of politicians, businessmen, engineers, financiers, immigrants, and average Americans. Regardless of the perspective of the worker or boss, the Transcontinental Railroad was an engineering feet like no other. As historian Stephen Ambrose notes "Next to winning the Civil War and abolishing slavery, building the first transcontinental railroad from Omaha, Nebraska, to Sacramento, California, was the greatest achievement of the American people in the nineteenth century. " (Ambrose)
Compare the maps from 1860 & 1870. What accounts for the differences? • http: //www. lib. utexas. edu/maps/united_stat es/us_terr_1860. jpg • http: //www. lib. utexas. edu/maps/united_stat es/us_terr_1870. jpg
Impact of Transcontinental Railroad – Increased both economics and number of people in west – Encouraged settlers to move west – Western companies supplied the east with timber, precious metals, meat, and grain. In exchange the east shipped finished products – Even perception of time became more formal and railroad schedule began to unite areas • Establishment of 4 continental time zones. – Tensions between Americans and Native Americans increase
Impact of Transcontinental Railroad
Impact of Transcontinental Railroad on Native Americans
How would the creation of the Transcontinental Railroad mark the end the migrant Native Americans?
How do you think the railroad “closed” the West?