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Transcontinental Railroad Essay

774 Words4 Pages

The Transcontinental Railroad and the Interstate Highway System were not only the two biggest contributions in the history of transportation in the United States but are tremendously similar to each other in how they were built. Both systems were built in times of extremely desperate need of a way of transportation across the country which made them such big advantages to American society. The two systems have been majorly significant tools in the history the United States as well as modern day life. Something that the two topics share is the fact that they were both built during times of great change in the nation and had difficulties in funding. In the case of the Transcontinental Railroad, its building was influenced by the secession …show more content…

During this time, the U.S. was split into two sections, the majority of the southern states had seceded from the United States, banding together as their own country known as the Confederate States of America who were fighting the war to keep slavery legal. The northern states maintaining their commitment to the United States were fighting the war to end slavery. The Transcontinental Railroad was going to open up the territories west of the the Missouri River and allow the creation of more free states. Fearing the loss of influence of slave states, the congressional representatives of the south opposed the railroad on financial grounds. Therefore, in 1862, with the commencement of the Civil War, the legislative representatives of the southern states resigned their congressional positions. This eliminated the opposition to fund the Transcontinental Railroad with the issuance of government bonds. This same means of funding would later be utilized for the Interstate Highway System. The Transcontinental Railroad depended on the law known as the Central Railroad Act of 1862 to be passed which allowed the building of railroad from the Missouri River all the way to the West Coast of the country. The Central Railroad Act of 1862 not only permitted the allowance of the two companies who were to first inhabit the railroad to start building the railroad but it gave the said companies right of way to their rail lines and 200 feet of land surrounding the

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