The Transcontinental Railroad is a building project that made a railroad that ran from Omaha Nebraska to Sacramento California. The project was built from 1863 to 1869. Building this railroad had a heavy impact on the United States. It was able to connect the east and west coast making the travel time from the east to west coast go from 6 months to 2 weeks.
The construction of the Transcontinental Railroad for Central Pacific began in 1863. Initial construction for Union Pacific was halted due to the civil war. Construction continued after the war in 1865, which was very easy for Union Pacific as the terrain was flat. One main issue they faced in this area, was the Native American population, who would raid the railroad camps and destroy their progress, because the railroad was being built on native land.
Union Pacific was able to find workers by hiring soilders from the war. Central Pacific had more difficulty finding workers. Charles Crocker ended up hiring workers from China. The large Chinese workforce was being paid less than the white workers, and they had to suffer through harsh conditions to create the railroad. Some of these conditions included dying from explosions used to make the tunnels and surviving the harsh cold of the Sierra Nevada mountain range. After the long construction process, the two railroads met on May 10th 1869.
The Transcontinental Railroad was revolutionary for transport from the east to west coast. It made the process of bringing people and goods across the country very easy. This railroad is a contributing factor in America getting more factories, as the demand for goods increased when they were able to be brought from coast to coast quicker. This also made it so westward expansion was easier, as getting to the west coast was only a train ride away.
Not all of the impacts were positive. For Native Americans, the Transcontinental Railroad was built on Native American land. Not only that, but with how easy it was to travel to the west coast, settlers came closer and closer to Native territory. Hunters were also moving in which made the bison nearly go extinct. The bison was a key food source for Native Americans, and the Transcontinental Railroad's construction is part to blame for taking them away. It was also bad for the Chinese workers, who were being underpaid as they were forced to climb through dangerous terrain and set of explosions to build this railroad.
Leland Stanford was the former governor of California, who became the president of the Central Pacific Railroad after heavily investing into the Transcontinental Railroad. He is also known for founding Stanford University with his wife in 1885.
Charles Crocker was a business man who grew up having to work hard to help his family. He was able to become rich from making a store during the gold rush. He helped with building the western portion of the Transcontinental Railroad, and was the person behind the idea of hiring Chinese workers. After working for Central Pacific, he helped build the Southern Pacific Railroad which later absorbed the Central Pacific Railroad.
Collis P. Huntington was a magnate from the Central Pacific Railroad. He was important for funding the Transcontinental Railroad, as he would lobby for funding from the federal government. When the big four merged into the Southern Pacific Railroad, he also had a role in lobbying for money to help fund the project.
Mark Hopkins was a man from Kentucky who, after an unsucessful career in gold mining, met Collis P. Huntington. They made a company called Huntington and Hopkins which was sucessful in selling mercantile houses. Later, he became a director for the Central Pacific Railroad. He also tried to build a huge mansion, but he died before the construction completed. That mansion is the present day location of the Mark Hopkins Hotel.