The First Transcontinental Railroad

Daveraj Khuti

10-28-14

US History

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Pioneers from the early 1800's pause of their
  journey across the Great Plains, being forced
 to cover over 2,000 miles in a single summer.
Photo by J. Willard Marriott

Before the 1820’s the concept of a “super-railroad” or a transcontinental railroad captivated the mind of many Americans. The mere idea of there being a faster way across the country rather than stage coaches or boats was a wild idea. It was until 1825 that John Stevens constructed the first US steam locomotive, considered during his time an amazing accomplishment. It took the United States roughly 50 years to complete the First Transcontinental Railroad and the resulted created by the railroad affected many aspects of the American culture and life.

The first important supporter of the idea of creating a system of railroads across America was Congressman Asa Whitney. He saw its potential useful application while he in England, he was able to observe the Liverpool Manchester Railway. He saw hundreds of commuters riding the trains to get to work and realized how a railroad system in America could help them to develop faster. The first step towards the construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad did not occur until twenty years later when in 1850 President Millard Fillmore signed the first Railroad Grant Act. Its purpose was to encourage the construction of railroads in undeveloped areas, the South and the West.

A photograph of the great engineer
 Theodore Judah.
  Portrait photographed by Carleton E. Watkins

Ten years after that in July an engineer named Theodore Judah “discovered” the Donner Pass, he saw how it could be ideal for a railroad through the Sierra Nevada. In November that same year, in 1860, Judah met with Collis P. Huntington, and Judah proposed his idea of a railroad line. Judah managed to get Collis on board and with his help they managed to get four other investors: Mark Hopkins, James Bailey, Charles Crocker, and Leland Stanford. Those five men eventually became the First Board of Directors of the Central Pacific Railroad Company. Even with the start of the Civil War in 1861 the idea of a Transcontinental Railroad was not put on hold.

The map of the First Transcontinental Railroad
after being completed in 1869.
Taken from the History Channel

On July 1st 1862, about one year after the Civil War began, with the endorsement of Congress and Abraham Lincoln the First Pacific Railway Act was passed. It encouraged the Central Pacific Railroad Company to build a line from California to the East and it also encouraged the Union Pacific Railroad Company to build a line West from the Missouri river(Congress hoped that the railroads would eventually connect, but a location was not yet chosen). Then six days later on July 7th  1862 Congress officially authorized the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad through federal land grants which were given through the First Pacific Railway Act. It gave each company 6,400 acres and 48,000 dollars for each mile of railroad they laid. Then in 1864 Congress revised the Pacific Railway Act by doubling land grants, ceding all natural resources on the line to the railroad, and they removed limitations on individual stock ownership. By doing this they basically gave the railroad company’s complete power to do as they please as long as they built the railroad. Eventually the Central Pacific chose Sacramento as their starting point and the Union Pacific chose Omaha, but construction did not begin right away.

A photograph of the Golden Spike ceremony, one can notice
 that there are no Chinese workers present despite completing
 nearly half the work. Photo by Andrew Russell, 1869

The Union Pacific waited until July 10th 1865 to spike its first rails into Omaha, and then four years later on May 10th 1869 a golden spike was hammered into Promontory Summit, Utah to celebrate the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad.

The forty four years it took from John Steven’s first US steam locomotive to eventually evolve into the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad resulted in many changes. Firstly, the speed of transportation was increased tenfold, reduced the price immensely, and made travel a lot more safe. A stagecoach to the West would take about five months and would cost $9,000, one would be exposed to rugged mountains and arid deserts, bandits and hostile indians, and diseases. Another way West would have been by boat, one would get on a boat in the East coast and then sail around South America until they landed in California; it was expensive and it took a very long time. For a first class ticket on the Transcontinental Railroad it would have cost $150 and it was a five day trip. The ease of transportation also meant that if one wanted or had to move West they would not be completely cut off from their family in the East. The immense usage of the railroads resulted in a few new creations, firstly the phrases:”Time’s up”, “Time’s a wasting”, and “The train’s leaving the station” were adopted; secondly it led to the creation of the four standard time zones in the continental America’s. The continental America’s were forced to create some type of time zone system because of all the trains being sent out it was hard to coordinate schedules, so on November 18th 1883 four standard time zones were introduced. Thirdly it led to the introduction of Chinese workers, in 1865 Charles Crocker(one of the original investors for the Central Pacific Railroad Company) convinced foreman James Harvey Strobridge to try Chinese workers as a means of increasing their construction speed. At the time the current workforce ranged from Irish and German immigrants to former Union and Confederate soldiers to freed slaves. But by the late 1860’s the main workforce was Chinese, there was roughly 8-10 thousand workers. They were forced to work in unacceptable ways, stories ranging from being lowered into holes to place nitroglycerin(an explosive, also another feat of the railroads) and then lighting it and they had to escape before it blew. Eventually they were tired of the poor work environment and  pay that they tried to go on strike for higher pay but were forced to continue working or else they would starve(the Central Pacific Company withheld their food).

But there were also negative result from the railroad was that pioneers and settlers were able to reach remote areas easier and therefore in 1890 the American Frontier was officially declared gone with railroads being a major cause. Another negative consequence of the railroads were its effects towards the American Bison, hunters were allowed to get on trains and then shoot buffalo, without taking the body back for food or anything. And then in 1871 when a tannery found a way to make torn buffalo hide into high quality leather the real butchering began.

A photograph taken in the mid-1870's of
 a pile of American Bison skulls.
The author of this photograph is Unknown

Hunters called hideman would bring their supplies on trains and then would use the trains to get close to the buffalo herds, and would also use the trains to transport the fur back. Before 1492 there were about 60 million buffalo but by the 1890’s there were 750, the implementation eventually led to the American Bison becoming nearly extinct.

The construction of the Transcontinental railroad led to many great advancements in the American culture but it also resulted in negative consequences. But in my opinion the positive advancements that came from railroads far outweighed the negative ones. But this country would not have been able to make its eventually rise to become the greatest country in the world without the help and construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad.

Works Cited

"American Experience: TV's Most-watched History Series." PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 26 Oct. 2014. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/general-article/tcrr-impact/>.

"A Brief History of Time Zones." A Brief History of Time Zones. Steffen Thorsen, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2014. <http://www.timeanddate.com/time/time-zones-history.html>.

"Digital History." Digital History. Steven Mintz, n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2014. <http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/disp_textbook.cfm?smtid=2&psid=3147>.

"Early American Railroads." Ushistory.org. Independence Hall Association, n.d. Web. 27 Oct. 2014. <http://www.ushistory.org/us/25b.asp>.

"The Historical Significance of America's Transcontinental Railroad." By The Historian. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Oct. 2014. <http://www.humanities360.com/index.php/the-historical-significance-of-americas-transcontinental-railroad-2-55577/>.

Galloway, John Debo. “The First Transcontinental Railroad.” Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific 62.365: 71-72. JStor. Web. 27 Oct. 2014. <http://www.jstor.org/stable/40672277>.

Marrin, Albert. Sitting Bull and His World. New York: Dutton Children’s, 2000. Print.

Nash, Gary B. Expansion and Reform. New York: Facts on File, 2003. Print. Vol. 4 of Encyclopedia of American History.