The Railroads Building the 1 st Transcontinental Railroad
The Railroads
Building the 1 st Transcontinental Railroad • Pacific Railway Act of 1862 – U. S. Government hired Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railway Company to extend railways across the United States. • Central Pacific – Started in Sacramento, CA • Union Pacific – Started in Omaha, NE • The 2 railroad companies met in Promontory, Utah to drive the “Golden Spike” on May 10, 1869
Promontory, Utah May 10, 1869
The Workers Majority of workers were Chinese immigrants
The Workers and Irish immigrants
The Workers The working conditions for all, were very poor and strenuous!
The Workers The working conditions for all, were very poor and strenuous!
The Workers The working conditions for all, were very poor and strenuous!
The Workers The working conditions were tough because of the difficult terrain and weather conditions
The Workers The working conditions were tough because of the difficult terrain and weather conditions
The Workers The working conditions were tough because of the difficult terrain and weather conditions
Who did the Railroad Impact? Native Americans (called it the Iron Horse) • Helped Westward expansion • Made trade much easier • Hurt the farmers economically because of the higher costs for farmers • They made deals with wealthy businessmen (became corrupt) • Became crucial to the U. S. economy
Who did the Railroad Impact? Native Americans (called it the Iron Horse)
Who did the Railroad Impact? Native Americans (called it the Iron Horse)
Who did the Railroad Impact? Helped Westward expansion
Who did the Railroad Impact? Hurt the farmers economically because of the higher costs for farmers
Who did the Railroad Impact? Hurt the farmers economically because of the higher costs for farmers
Who did the Railroad Impact? They made deals with wealthy businessmen (became corrupt)
Who did the Railroad Impact? They made deals with wealthy businessmen (became corrupt)
Who did the Railroad Impact? Became crucial to the U. S. economy
Checkerboarding
Legislation • Interstate Commerce Act of 1887 – put in place for Government to supervise railroad activities • Led to more financial problems (railroads were forced out of business, which led to the Panic of 1893) • This caused the Large Firms to start buying up the railways, which paved the way for Big Businesses
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