Transcontinental Railroads

Transcontinental Railroads — page 1
INTRODUCTION THE PAST COMES ALIVE History is the landmark by which we are directed into the true course of life Marcus Garvey 1887 1940 Jamaican National Hero and black nationalist leader The society we live in now can be traced back to the thousands of decisions both big and small made in the past Some were great ideas others were tragic mistakes but each one contributed to the industries cultures and governments we have today By studying the past we can better understand the present We can see how our thoughts ideas and prejudices shape our world Big ideas are always a risk Linking the east and west coasts in North America was seen as a way to unite a country Both the United States and Canada saw railroads as the means to do this The west would become accessible to people from the east as well as European immigrants who wanted to settle there Goods and resources from the west coast mountains and prairies could flow east Railroads would make long-distance travel for passengers quicker and more comfortable With not enough workers to get the job done foreign laborers from Ireland and China were brought in Although they helped build the railroads the Chinese laborers could not easily become citizens It started a wave of immigration that would be impossible to reverse Railroad development brought each nation together but it also pushed European settlers into the territories of western Indigenous peoples This book looks at the construction of the transcontinental railroads in North America in the mid to late 1800s and the impact they had on the settlement and growth of the United States and Canada Railroads were first developed in England where they are called railways and some early North American companies used the title railway 4 UNCOVERING THE PAST Engineer Theodore Judah’s first official map of the eastward reaching Central Pacific Railroad It was filed in 1862 the day before U S President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Bill into law