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.
The Chinese who sailed to Western America found themselves as an object of ridicule and hatred by the White Americans. They were not able to speak English, which made life in America very hard for them. The Chinese were taken advantage of because
Transcontinental Railroad Tera Richardson, 4336787 History 102 B008 Sum 17 Professor Traci Sumner American Military University July 22, 2017 Abstract The transcontinental railroad was one of the biggest advocates for the industrial economy and westward expansion. The railroads could transfer goods and people across the country with ease, and quickly. While some bad came from this miraculous progression, such as the panic of 1873 and a yellow fever epidemic, the good outweighed the bad as it enabled the United States to fulfill its Manifest Destiny through westward expansion.
Lee Chew lived in a unique time period for chinese immigrants in America, preceding the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and living in America after it passed. He was then confronted whether to live in America with the hope of wealth but no hope of being with his family or move back to China. This time period is recorded in a first person biography about Chew’s life, titled Life of a Chinese Immigrant. This primary source was published in a journal, The Independent in 1903. Chew had a very significant encounter with American wealth when a villager brought back huge wealth to the village after going to America.
The Illinois Central Railroad Company (IC) was a large railroad company that aided in the industrial success and development of the west. It was constructed in 1851 to 1857 and started in Cairo, Illinois. The Illinois Central Railroad tested the success of federal subsidation in this industry because it was “Americas first land-grant railroad”. The Illinois Central Railroad holds much historical significance as it is a model for other railroad companies to come. There are many aspects that must be taken into consideration when looking to improve the current situation of this company.
The railway has been a crucial component of Canada's transportation infrastructure since the mid-19th century. It is a system of transportation that uses trains to transport people and goods across the country, connecting communities and facilitating trade and commerce. The railway played a critical role in Canada's history, particularly in the period of rapid economic and industrial growth that occurred in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in the 1880s was a landmark event in Canadian history, as it connected the eastern and western coasts of the country for the first time. The railway enabled goods and people to move more easily across the country, facilitating trade and
Chapter six examines the anti-Chinese sentiment with the emerging class antagonism and turmoil between white capitalists and workers. The unwelcomed arrival of Chinese immigrants brought along their own social organizations such as the huiguan, fongs, and tongs. These types of social organizations secured areas of employment and housing for Chinese immigrants in California. This social structure that was unknown to Anglos led them to also categorize Chinese on the same level as Indians by depicting them as lustful heathens whom were out to taint innocent white women. These images were also perpetuated onto Chinese women, thus, also sexualizing them as all prostitutes.
The Underground Railroad of the United States of America was a complex system of knowledge and experience that made it possible for slaves to escape the harsh realities of laboring for the opportunistic region of the North. With this in mind, all fugitives faced tremendous odds, displaying unimaginable amounts of courage in order to bypass themselves from the conditions they lived under in the South. Similarly, there were many directly opposing ideas making their way through the minds of those in the legislature, in essence creating a social divide that would arguably continue until the end of the civil rights movement. Although today it is known as a singular concept, the Underground Railroad was composed of several independent organizations that in turn collectively had goals of abolishing slavery.
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.
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.
They brought with them their language, culture, social institutions, and customs (“Chinese Immigration to the United States”). They came to America why almost everyone else did, for a shot at “Gold Mountain”. When that turned out to be a bust, they turned to very laborious jobs, like constructing the railroads, mining, and agriculture. Up to 90 percent of the labor force was Chinese (Patel, Samir S.). This new life also had discrimination that led to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.
Chinese people encountered considerable prejudice especially by those who did the same thing in white society, because Chinese “coolies” were used as a scapegoat for lower wages by politicians and labor leaders. The emerging trade unions, under such leaders as Samuel Gompers,also took an anti-Chinese position, regarding them only as competitors to white laborers who would “steal” the white people’s jobs. Only with the emergence of the international Workers of the World did trade unionists start to accept them as part of the American working class. The racism the Chinese Americans faced varied greatly, and could be anything from name- calling to, full out frontal assault.
If you were a slave during the mid-19th century, your only chance of freedom would be the Underground Railroad. The Underground Railroad “was a hidden network of people and places established to help runaway slaves escape safely to the North and Canada. Free blacks—assisted by sympathetic white Northerners and operating largely in disguise and at night—provided directions, food, and shelter for those seeking freedom”(Underground Railroad). About 100,000 slaves escaped captivity through the system during the 1800s. The slaves used whatever they could to travel, “by foot, in small boats, by covered wagon, and even in boxes shipped by rail or sea”(Underground Railroad).
Miners decided to abandon the digging and dirt, also, the war and starvation for what they believed could sustain better options to become even more prosperous as it was the farming jobs. All the damaged caused to their human spirit of self-esteem exausted them. Therefore, began their new farming journey, they accepted all the jobs that others would not consider, Chinese were in the land of milk and honey, it provided such high earnings that were able to bring their families to California from their home country “China”.
The Underground Railroad The Underground Railroad, wasn't your average railroad so to speak, it was just an analogy used to help out the fugitive slaves. It was the most dramatic protest action against slavery. The Underground Railroad was very effective, in helping move hundreds of slave’s northward each year. Due to this helping aide, the South lost over 100,000 slaves between 1810 and 1850.
