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
EVIDENCE RECORD CARD Theodore Judah’s map of the route of the Central Pacific Railroad CPRR LEVEL Primary source MATERIAL Hand-drawn color map LOCATION Central United States DATE June 30 1862 SOURCE The National Archives Washington D C Getty Images DEFINITIONS Historians use special words to talk about time Decade A period of 10 years Century A period of 100 years Millennium A period of 1,000 years Generation A group of people who were born at about the same time Era A period of time dominated by an important characteristic event or person Age A long period of time dominated by an important event such as the Industrial Age Railroads were part of the Industrial Revolution TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROADS 5
INTRODUCTION WHERE TO LOOK FOR EVIDENCE We can learn about our past in many different ways We can listen to oral stories told by older generations We can read written accounts from individuals journalists or governments We can interview people who lived through past events or examine old paintings photographs and sculptures We can read books on a subject to gather more information or gain a new perspective Each piece of information adds details and insights to help us understand the reasons an event happened or why a person acted the way they did To begin a search to learn about our past we can look in museums libraries or private collections We can also ask a historian A historian is someone who researches studies and writes about the past He or she is often an expert in one area event or time period Jack Simmons 1915 2000 was an English historian who specialized in railroad history Stephen Ambrose 1936 2002 was another historian who focused on American history and wrote about the building of the Pacific Railroad This book uses their research Depending on the time and place when an event happened it can be easy or hard to find information For example very old events may have happened before cameras were invented so there may not be any photographs Wartime could mean all T D Judah Co civil engineers railroad contractors are prepared to execute and furnish surveys plans and estimates to contract for and to build and equip railroads in the state of California on the most favorable terms Advertisement in Placer Herald from Auburn California July 21 1860 6 UNCOVERING THE PAST
documents in a museum were burned or bombed There might be a lot of information on a celebrity because of media attention Because the building of the transcontinental railroads in both Canada and the United States were sanctioned by the governments there is much evidence Official records reports laws and acts were based on the idea of connecting regions of the countries by rail Photography was new but was still able to capture many important moments during the construction Because much of the land to be crossed was mostly unexplored maps were drawn to help the railroads find the best routes The Pacific Railroad Act signed by President Lincoln on July 1 1862 allowed the construction of a rail and telegraph line from the Missouri River in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west This cartoon of May 1869 celebrated the completion of the transcontinental railroad in the United States PERSPECTIVES Take a close look at the illustration of the locomotives How does the illustrator portray Native Americans Do you think he shows a bias or unfair opinion What clues in the picture back up your answer TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROADS 7
