How Did Judah Build The Central Pacific Railroad

After America had obtained the west, the need for a better transportation heightened. Many ideas were proposed to get from the east to the west shores, but the railroad was the best choice. The Republican Congress convened and ruled that federal funding on the railroad construction. The congress voted for the funding, but it was halted because of a war. The American Civil War of 1861 to 1865, the race to build the railroad began in 1866. The American 16th president Abraham Lincoln approved the Pacific Railway Act of 1862, giving building contracts to only two railroad companies. The railroad later becomes a symbol of unity between the broken American nation. The construction of the railroad helped build the foundation of the transportation

A man named Judah devised the route for the Central Pacific and was later changed by a man named Daniel Strong, which chose a more effective route. Judah would have been the railroads engineer but was killed by the deadly Yellow Fever in Panama. Judah was on his way to meet the very successful man named Cornelius Vanderbilt. After Judah had passed, Samuel Montague and Lewis Clements became head engineers for the railroad. Unlike the Union Pacific, the Central Pacific hired Chinese immigrants who moved to California in search of gold. The Chinese workers were paid less than the Irish workers, and more treated just as bad. The Chinese workers were also made to pay full California taxes and weren’t allowed to become citizens. The Central Pacific were building through Sierra Nevada, which was a challenge. The Chinese workers were still willing to work 13 hours shifts 6 days a week, which was longer than any other race was willing to work, the Chinese workers were also willing to do the more dangerous tasks such as using explosives in caves. In 1868, 85% of the Central Pacific railroad workers were Chinese men (Crewe 18). The Central Pacific president had written a letter to the American president and basically told him that Chinese workers were quiet, patient, peaceful, and were the best workers he had and could double the work of white men. (Leland Stanford, Central Pacific report to U.S. government, October 10, 1867), (Crewe 19). The big Four were the men who financed the Central Pacific and their names were Collis Huntington, Mark Hopkins, Leland Stanford, and Charles Crocker. Leland Stanford was the wealthiest of the gentlemen and funded much of the railroad. Leland invested over $300,000 dollars to the Lincoln Mining Company, which have him a head start on getting the railroad contract. Leland was a very successful business man, but Stanford was more