railroading

• how did pioneers travel west before the transcontinental railroad and how long did it take?

  wagons and 6 months
• which 2 companies built the transcontinental railroad?

  union pacific and central pacific
• what were companies promised for each mile of track they laid?

  huge land plots and thousands of dollars
• what problem did the central pacific railroad face?

  the Sierra Nevada mountains
• which 2 countries did many of the labourers who built the railroad come from?

  Ireland and china
• what impact did the railroad have on indigenous peoples?

  removed from their land and buffalo killed and destroyed their way of life
• where did the 2 railway companies meet and who got there first?

  promontory point in Utah and the central pacific
• when was the transcontinental railroad complete?

  may 10th 1869
• how long did the journey across the country now take?

  7 days
• when was the pacific railroad act?

  1862
• where did the union pacific start and which way did It build?

  Omaha and westward
• where did the central pacific start and which way did it build?

  sacramento and eastwards
• how much was each company built per mild of track?

  $16,000
• how much were the companies paid if they went over Rocky Mountains?

  $48,000
• what did the pacific railroad act set up the first of?

  transcontinental electrical telegraph
• when did the union and central pacific finish the railroad?

  1869
• what were national impacts of the railroad?

  • economic benefits -opened up USA to trade with Asia
  • connected east and west and made them part of the USA-many felt 'manifest destiny' has been achieved
• what were impacts on the cattle industry due to the railroad?

  • enabled growth as they could transport and sell cattle at high prices In big eastern cites
• what impact did the railroad have on the indigenous peoples?

  • led to conflict with US army
  • led the way to white Americans invading their land
  • indigenous tribes moved away from railroad routes
  • decline of buffalo numbers- tracks reduced grassland and trains brought hunters to the plains
• what impact did the railroad have on white settlers and farmers?

  • made travelling west cheaper and easier
  • encouraged immigration from Europe
  • towns grew rapidly along railroad routes
  • boosted sale of land to settlers-by 1880 200 million acres was settled in the west by railroad companies
  • farmers could transport grain and other crops to sell in big cities
  • sellers could buy products from industrial cities such as machinery
  • railroad companies used marketing to encourage settlers to buy land