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How did the transcontinental railroad impact the settlement of the West?
Connecting the two American coasts made the economic export of Western resources to Eastern markets easier than ever before. The railroad also facilitated westward expansion, escalating conflicts between Native American tribes and settlers who now had easier access to new territories.
How did the transcontinental railroad encourage settlement?
The building of the railroad across the Great Plains meant more settlers and more competition with the Native Americans for the land. The transcontinental railroads wanted rights-of-way through tribal lands and needed white settlers to make their operations profitable.
How did railroads change the West?
It made commerce possible on a vast scale. In addition to transporting western food crops and raw materials to East Coast markets and manufactured goods from East Coast cities to the West Coast, the railroad also facilitated international trade.
What was the role of the railroad in the settlement and development of the West?
The railroad opened the way for the settlement of the West, provided new economic opportunities, stimulated the development of town and communities, and generally tied the country together.
What benefits did the transcontinental railroad bring?
The transcontinental railroad transformed the American economy. The railroad rapidly shipped resources such as coal, timber, precious metals and even cattle from west to east and opened up new markets for the goods produced in eastern factories.
How did the transcontinental railroad changed society?
Just as it opened the markets of the west coast and Asia to the east, it brought products of eastern industry to the growing populace beyond the Mississippi. The railroad ensured a production boom, as industry mined the vast resources of the middle and western continent for use in production.
How did railroads change communities?
Railroads created a more interconnected society. Counties were able to more easily work together due to the decreased travel time. With the use of the steam engine, people were able to travel to distant locations much more quickly than if they were using only horse-powered transportation.
What was the most important reason for building the transcontinental railroad?
During the construction of the transcontinental railroad in the United States, many new towns and settlements grew. What was the most important reason for building the transcontinental railroad? The railroad would make travel across the continent much faster, easier, and safer.
What did the Transcontinental Railroad do?
1. It made the Western U.S. more important. “What the transcontinental railroad did was bring the West into the world, and the world into the West,” explains James P. Ronda, a retired University of Tulsa history professor and co-author, with Carlos Arnaldo Schwantes, of The West the Railroads Made. In particular, it helped turn California ...
What was the effect of the Transcontinental Railroad on California?
The completion of the transcontinental railroad led to heightened racial tensions in California, as white workers from the East Coast and Europe could more easily travel westward where immigrant laborers were prevalent, says Princeton University Assistant Professor of History Beth Lew-Williams, author of The Chinese Must Go: Violence, Exclusion, and the Making of the Alien in America.
How much freight did the Transcontinental Railroad transport?
By 1880, the transcontinental railroad was transporting $50 million worth of freight each year. In addition to transporting western food crops and raw materials to East Coast markets and manufactured goods from East Coast cities to the West Coast, the railroad also facilitated international trade.
How did the Transcontinental Railroad help California?
2. It made commerce possible on a vast scale. By 1880, the transcontinental railroad was transporting $50 million worth of freight each year.
How much did the Transcontinental Railroad cost in the 1860s?
Building of the Transcontinental Railroad, circa 1869. 3. It made travel more affordable. In the 1860s, a six-month stagecoach trip across the U.S. cost $1,000 (about $20,000 in today’s dollars), according to the University of Houston’s Digital History website.
How did the railroad affect the environment?
It took a heavy toll on the environment. The massive amount of wood needed to build the railroad, including railroad ties, support beams for tunnels and bridges, and sheds, necessitated cutting down thousands of trees, which devastated western forests.
How did the railroad affect Native Americans?
And the railroad and other rail routes that followed made it easy for large numbers of hunters to travel westward and kill millions of buffalo. That slaughter impacted Native Americans, who had hunted buffalo in moderation, and weakened their resistance to settlement of the west.
How much land did the Transcontinental Railroad receive?
The two lines of track would meet in the middle (the bill did not designate an exact location) and each company would receive 6,400 acres of land (later doubled to 12,800) and $48,000 in government bonds for every mile of track built. From the beginning, then, the building of the transcontinental railroad was set up in terms of a competition between the two companies.
How long did it take to travel the Transcontinental Railroad?
With the completion of the track, the travel time for making the 3,000-mile journey across the United States was cut from a matter of months to under a week.
What was the impact of the Pacific Railroad Act?
In 1862, the Pacific Railroad Act chartered the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroad Companies, tasking them with building a transcontinental railroad that would link the United States from east to west. Over the next seven years, the two companies would race toward each other from Sacramento, ...
What act chartered the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroad Companies?
Contents. In 1862, the Pacific Railroad Act chartered the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroad Companies, tasking them with building a transcontinental railroad that would link the United States from east to west.
What are the two competing railroads?
Two Competing Companies: The Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroad. The Pacific Railroad Act stipulated that the Central Pacific Railroad Company would start building in Sacramento and continue east across the Sierra Nevada, while a second company, the Union Pacific Railroad, would build westward from the Missouri River, ...
How many miles of track were laid east of the Missouri River?
By 1850, some 9,000 miles of track had been laid east of the Missouri River. During that same period, the first settlers began to move westward across the United States; this trend increased dramatically after the discovery of gold in California in 1848.
When was the Transcontinental Railroad built?
Building of the Transcontinental Railroad, circa 1869. America’s first steam locomotive made its debut in 1830, and over the next two decades, railroad tracks linked many cities on the East Coast. By 1850, some 9,000 miles of track had been laid east of the Missouri River.