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Transcontinental railroad history report
Transcontinental railroad history report
Transcontinental railroad history report
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One of America’s oldest railroads, known as the first common-carrier railroad, was chartered on February 28th 1827, by a group of Baltimore businessmen. The main objective of the railway was to ensure traffic would not be lost to the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal, which was proposed and ground broken the same time as the railroad. The new railroad was a big invention, which allowed people and freight to travel by train. This was a huge improvement for the United States, since everything was becoming more advanced in other countries. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company is the great railroad that owns up to the big title of “The First Common Carrier.” The B&O railroad has a rich history dealing with its background, building, competition, growth tactics, numerous raids, and involvement in the Civil War.
The Baltimore and Ohio railroad has a very interesting background on why it started. Many years after the American Revolution a large number of people began to migrate west over the Cumberland Narrows, which is two mountains with a narrow gap in-between located in western Maryland. The Cumberland Narrows was also an early traveling path to the boat building centers located in Pennsylvania and Pittsburgh. It was also the same route George Washington took for Braddock’s Expedition, an attempt to capture the French Fort Duquesne which failed. The route had become famous as the Cumberland Road which was one of the five passes through the rough Appalachians. Now that multitudes of people were moving to the West, it was a chance to make profit. While water transport and travel was the hottest technology of the day, some of Baltimore’s business community wanted something new and different that would also generate wealth. The intelligent comm...
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...nt in the Civil War. B&O was prepared and recovered fast. It is known as one of the strongest and most successful railroad in the United States. The railroad company started off as the first common-carrier railroad to the first stem engine railroad and reached destinations faster than anyone would have thought of in the 19th century. As stated in many articles, B&O is by far the greatest railroad company of the 19th century and in the United States today.
Works Cited
"Baltimore & Ohio Railroad: The Union's Most Important Supply Line." History Net Where History Comes Alive World US History Online Baltimore Ohio Railroad The Unions Most Important Supply Line Comments. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.
"Determining the Facts." Reading 3: The Washington Connection. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.
National Parks Service. National Parks Service, n.d. Web. 21 Oct. 2013.
Two railway companies competed in this venture: The Central Pacific company laid track eastward from Sacramento, California and at the same time The Union Pacific company began laying track westward from Omaha, Nebraska and when the two lines met, the transcontinental railway would be complete. Each company wanted to cover more ground than the other – not just out of pride and competitiveness, but ...
Cannons boomed simultaneously in New York and San Francisco at the same moment the golden spike was hammered into the ground, connecting the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad companies at Promontory Summit, Utah, on May 10, 1869 (American 1). North America became the first continent to be connected by railroad from the Atlantic coast to the Pacific coast when the Transcontinental Railroad was finished (Gale 1). The railroad was an essential component of achieving manifest destiny. The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad spurred settlement in the American West, encouraged immigration, and began an economic boom in the United States.
In Henry George’s article, What the Railroad Will Bring Us, it discusses the main social, political, and economic transformations that the trans-continental railroad would bring to the state of California. More importantly, he discusses not only the benefits, but also discusses the major drawbacks with the arrival of the railroad. Henry George stated the railroad would be the “greatest work of the age” (297). With a railroad stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific, multiple benefits would be brought to the state of California. First, the railroad will not only create a new means of transportation across the United States, it additionally would also become “one of the greatest material prosperity” of its time (298). This means more people, more houses,
There is one reason Chicago is as big as it is today and that is the fact that it is the largest rail city in the world. The railroad made Chicago what it is today, and although the canal was very important in the history of Chicago the railroads importance out weighs it by far. The canal was important because it was the vision of the first settlers of Chicago to have an all water trade route that would go through Chicago. What those first explorers saw was a way to make a canal so that they could transport goods from the St Lawrence River all the way to the Gulf of Mexico with less cost and with more efficiency. The canal was the reason Chicago was settled in the first place if not for it there might very well not be a city called Chicago. You could argue that the canal was the most important thing in Chicago's history but I think the railroads were much more important. The railroads enabled Chicago to become one of the biggest cities in the world by bringing in different business and all types of goods. Chicago is a very key location to have a railroad-shipping hub. This is because it is centrally located in the United States so goods can be shipped in almost any direction and received in a shorter amount of time. William Butler Ogden was the one who pushed for Chicago to adopt a large rail system and he should be known as the one who made this city boom. St. Louis or another centrally located city could have very well adopted the rail system and they would have reaped all the benefits.
Taylor, George Rogers, and Irene D. Neu. The American Railroad Network, 1861-1890. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1956. Print.
George M. Pullman is best remembered for his contributions to the railroad industry through the invention of his Pullman Cars. The cars sold well and the railroad industry flourished with this new invention. Although the success attached to his name, not many people know the real truth behind this robber baron. His greed for money took him to extreme measures as his workers were seriously mistreated and put under strict
Abraham's connection to the railroad systems allowed his army a large advantage during the war. The amount of track in the North completely overpowered the Souths length of track. At the beginning of the war the North had already built about 22,000 miles of track while the South had only built about 9,000 miles. Not only did the North have more track but it had been more strategically placed, so this meant that most of the Northern railroads were connected with other track systems. This meant that if the South took out part of the Norths track the North could still quickly get to their destination. Lincoln also had private railroad companies allow him access to their track and to the trains they were manufacturing to help with the war. As a result of this Lincoln took control of railroad systems to help him win the war. Baldwin Locomotive Works also built 500 engines for Lincoln to use in the war. With the railroad Lincoln sent troops longer distances in a fraction of the time t...
Although not a natural resource, railroads were considered one of the key factors in almost every widespread industry. It allowed companies to quickly send products across the entire nation without using expensive and time-consuming caravans or wagons. Cornelius Vanderbilt was a prominent leader in the railroad industry at this time. He was already in his later years by the time the Gilded Age rolled around and didn't even get to see the uprising of some of the greatest leaders of the time. The railroad companies took advantage of their necessity by constantly overcharging customers, especially farmers. This led to one of the first labor unio...
One of the most important achievements of the Gilded Age was the creation of a network of railroads including the transcontinental railroad, which connected the United States from New York to California, facilitating transportation across the continent. During the Gilded Age the length of all the railroads combined increased threefold ("Second Industrial Revolution"). This was significant not only because it decreased travel time from the eastern to western parts of the U.S and vice versa down from months to weeks and allowed people to settle the central United States, but also opened new areas for commercial farming and gave an economic boost to steel...
As many jobs were created by the construction of the railroad, many african american people found themselves employed for one of the biggest industries in historical america, laying down railroad, and constructing the telegraph network that followed the rail.
As the need of human transportation and various forms of cargo began to rise in the United States of America, a group of railroads with terminal connections along the way began to form across the land mass of this country, ending with the result of one of the most influential innovations in American history, allowing trade to flow easily from location to location, and a fast form of transportation, named the Transcontinental Railroad.
Throughout the late nineteenth and the early twentieth century, the United States economy changed dramatically as the country transformed from a rural agricultural nation to an urban industrial gian, becoming the leading manufacturing country in the world. The vast expansion of the railroads in the late 1800s’ changed the early American economy by tying the country together into one national market. The railroads provided tremendous economic growth because it provided a massive market for transporting goods such as steel, lumber, and oil. Although the first railroads were extremely successful, the attempt to finance new railroads originally failed. Perhaps the greatest physical feat late 19th century America was the creation of the transcontinental railroad. The Central Pacific Company, starting in San Francisco, and the new competitor, Union Pacific, starting in Omaha. The two companies slaved away crossing mountains, digging tunnels, and laying track the entire way. Both railroads met at Promontory, Utah on May 10, 1869, and drove one last golden spike into the completed railway. Of course the expansion of railroads wasn’t the only change being made. Another change in the economy was immigration.
The transcontinental railroad would eventually become a symbol of much-needed unity, repairing the sectionalism that had once divided the nation during the Civil War. The construction of the transcontinental railroad was also an extension of the transportation revolution. Once commodities such as gold were found in the western half of America, many individuals decided to move themselves and their families out west in search of opportunity. Not only did the railroad help to transport people, but it also it allowed for goods to be delivered from companies in the east. In the end, the American transcontinental railroad created a national market, enabling mass production, and stimulated industry, while greatly impacting American society through stimulated immigration and urbanization.
Michigan was important to the Underground Railroad because there were many routes and stops in Michigan, Michigan had many conductors and activists, and Detroit was close to Canada. There were many stops and routes in Michigan. Some of the cities that has stops were Detroit, Trenton, Ann Arbor, and Battle Creek. The 2nd Baptist Church was a rest stop for the slaves. The church still exists today. Since Michigan has the Great Lakes, there were water routes in Michigan. The water route went through Lake Michigan. Michigan also had many conductors and activists that worked the Underground Railroad. Mr. Goodell lived in the city of Adrian. He hid slaved in covered wagons on his farm. His family didn’t even know about it. Detroit had many free blacks
So, Congress got together and decided that they needed to authoritize the making of the National Road, starting in Maryland, and going all the way into Illinois. However, this was never really officialized so it just became a thing and wasn't a huge production. So the people were just like 'oh...thanks.' But in August of 1807, an inventor and engineer by the name of Robert fulton "made history with his steamboat, the North River Steam Boat (often called the Clarmont), when he traveled along the Hudson River from New York City to Albany. The boat was propelled by a steam engine that turned paddle wheels in the water.(11)" It was turning ou to be the transpotation of the century! Well, at that time. Pretty soon, the American waterways became full of steamboats. It was a much, much easier and cheaper way of tranportation. People even built man-made canals to make the travel by water a more convinient traveling system.