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Central Pacific Railroad Research Paper

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The first railways were created in England and involved horse drawn carriages that moves along rails imbedded in the street. The English Richard Trevithick built the first full scale steam powered locomotive in 1802, it then proceeded to spread quickly throughout England becoming the quickest mode of long distance transportation. It wasn’t until 1830 that the US first started to develop steam powered locomotive of their own, before that the US had to import locomotives from Great Britain. Subsequent to seeing the immense potential of a railroad industry in America, locomotives and tracks began to be constructed seemingly overnight. As the East grew more connected, the idea to link the East and West by railroad arose, a concept highly disputed amongst Senate and Congress members over things like, if the railroad would be a southern or northern route, thus stalling the passing of a bill to assist rail line companies with the construction of a transcontinental railroad. However, after the South seceded from the Union, Congress decided on the northern route and created …show more content…

They soon became known as the “Big Four”, each played an essential role in the success of the Central Pacific. Croker oversaw the construction of the Central Pacific line and was responsible for the hiring Chinese workers who made up around ⅔ of the railroads work force. Huntington served as vice president of the Central Pacific, Stanford operated a successful mining supply business. Lastly, Hopkins became treasurer of Central Pacific at its founding and remained in that position until his

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Crocker, Hopkins, Huntington, and Stanford allies the "Big Four" or "Four Associates" took advantage of the people and government during and after the construction of the Central Pacific

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In 1864 Congress approved the Northern Pacific Railway to be built. The NPR is the first transcontinental railroad in the northern part of the country. It is 8,316 miles long, beginning in Minnesota and ending in Washington state, with many branches going off the main line. When congress approved it they also supplied nearly 40million acres of land grants to build the railroad on. Construction didn 't go underway until 1870, and the rail road was finally christened to open on Sept. 8 1888.

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Peter Cooper: Having been convinced that the proposed Baltimore and Ohio Railroad would drive up prices for land in Maryland, Cooper used his profits to buy three-thousand acres of land there in 1828 and began to develop them, draining swampland and flattening hills, during this, he discovered iron ore on his land. Seeing the B&O as a natural market for iron rails to be made from his ore, he founded the Canton Iron Works in Baltimore, and when the railroad developed technical problems, he put together the Tom Thumb steam locomotive for them in 1830 from various old parts, including musket barrels, and some small scale steam engines he had messed with back in New York. The engine was a huge success, prompting investors to buy stock in B&O, and enabled the company to buy Cooper 's iron rails, making him his first fortune.

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The Industrial Revolution was a prosperous time for the western civilizations beginning in 1760 and ending between 1840 and 1860. The invention of railroads began in England, but was brought to the United States in the early 1800’s. In 1815, Colonel John Stevens got the first railroad charter with New Jersey Railroad Company, although a single train track was not laid until 1832 (www.american-rails.com/railroad-history.html). Therefore, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company built the first railroad in 1827. The machine was purchased from the Stephenson Works in England.

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There have been steam engine trains trailing the United States in the early 1800’s. Many of the early ones ran only a few dozen miles. When the railways ran longer distances, the cost to build and later ride them were be extremely high. However, long distances were what Minnesota needed to keep up with the competitive and growing nation around it. “Construction began on the first track in 1861 in St. Paul and was completed in 1862.”

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The railroad was first designed by George Stephenson whose original idea was to use steam to run the train and make transportation faster. When the US started using railroads and trains they purchased them from the Stephen Works company from Britain. “In the 1850s a boom in railroad development across the North was changing business organization and management and reducing freight costs. Railroads were influencing a rise in real estate values, increasing regional concentrations of industry, the size of business units and stimulating growth in investment banking and agriculture.

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In the 1860’s America started building the first continental railroad. It provided a cheap and efficient way to transport products from one side of the country to the other. One man in particular had a great impact on the industrialization of America, Cornelius Vanderbilt. Vanderbilt had a poor upbringing, but at the age of 16 he bought a ferry, over the next 40 years he built the largest shipping empire in the world. Vanderbilt sold all of his ships and invested everything in railroads.

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In this paper I will explain how the railroads changed American society, politics, and its economy during this era. Secondly, I’ll talk about the 1896 election and how that impacted America and changed American Politics and elections form that point on. Lastly, I will identify the 4 themes of the Gilded Age and explain the causes of these themes and the consequences it had on American politics, economy, and its society. When railroads were invented in America, and first started being used commercially and for businesses, it was a major technological leap. They created a huge demand for goods.

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The Transcontinental Railroad was essentially built to link our country as one. Being about 1,776 miles long, it was the first completed railroad to connect land stretching from Sacramento, California to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Many people were involved in the creating the railroad. The excitement of people as well as some concerns were expressed in the Primary Source Documents. The Chamber of Commerce of New York invited The Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco to a congratulatory party.

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In 1694, Thomas Savery invented what would revolutionize the united states indefinitely, he called it the steam engine. This invention lead to the first steam engine locomotive which many would say was a beneficial turning point in the industrialization of america’s economy,allowing the steam engine to be used on the railways. Although the railroads did impact the United States and certain groups in positive ways,there were also negative effects that occurred. During this time period, there were many chinese immigrants that entered the United States who made up most of the workers that built the tracks.

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Because of the rapid settlement of the western land in the 1850s, Congress wanted to enforce a transcontinental railroad to replace America’s current weak transportation system—horse-drawn carriages were still used and soldiers often had to walk. But due to the constant competition between the Northern members and the Southern

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The Transcontinental Railroad The completion of the first Transcontinental Railroad was an important event in the United States history. There were many challenges in building it, but after it was finished, it connected the East Coast of the United States to the West Coast. The railroad took three whole years to build, with the help of two railroad companies and thousands of other hired workers.

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Technological innovations, such as the transcontinental railroad in the United States, forced society to reevaluate the role of government. The most obvious repercussion of the construction of the railroads in America is the control of ecosystem services such as land and agriculture. Railroads were sloppy; they did not care for where they were placed, unless it maximized profit; it did not care for the impact on society and it blurred the lines of government intervention in public and private enterprises. Thus, the transcontinental railroad transformed the political system by creating a modern corporate lobby.

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Before the 1800s, there were two early roads, Forbes and Wilderness Road. In 1811, the National Road known as Cumberland Road was built to reach Western settlements, because they needed a road to ship farm products that connect East and West. The National Road passed thousand of wagons and coaches. John F. Stover states in American Railroads, “The rich agricultural production of the country, the small but expanding factories of eastern cities, and the largely untapped natural resources of the nation-all of these called for improvements in transport. ”(Stover1)

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The Tremendous Impact of Railroads on America In the late 19th century, railroads propelled America into an era of unprecedented growth, prosperity, and convenient transportation. Prior to the building of the railroads, America lacked the proper and rapid transportation to make traveling across the country economical or practical. Lengthy travel was often cumbersome, costly, and dangerous.

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