The Transcontinental Railroad was the first railroad that spanned the nation from east to west. The railroad was comprised of the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific railroad companies. Together these two railroads were able to bring the nation together, and the railroads contributed to the economic success of a growing nation. In 1839, the Corps of Topographical Engineers was created as a unit of the United States Army.[1] The purpose of this branch was to explore the continent with the hope of achieving the concept of manifest destiny. In 1853, Congress sent out a group of people to explore the west and to find a suitable route for a transcontinental railroad. However, there were other groups that went out on private expeditions. One of the members of this group was John C. Fremont, who made five major expeditions into the west.[2] Once California became a state in 1850, the government wanted to ensure that California did not break away from the Union.[3] One way to ensure this was to build a transcontinental railroad to provide transportation and communication between the eastern and western states. Since an effective route for the railroad had not been officially decided Congress appointed this job to Jefferson Davis, who was the Secretary of War, on March 3, 1853. Congress gave Davis the task of finding the potential route along four different lines of latitude. The people involved in the expeditions faced many problems including Indian attacks, long journeys, and inadequate information.[4] The groups also failed to figure out how to build the railroad to California, while avoiding the Sierra Nevada.[5] However, it was a civilian, who would eventually find the route for the transcontinental railroad to take. This man was Theodore Dehone Judah who became fixated on the idea of a transcontinental railroad after he worked on the Sacramento Valley Line in 1854. In 1857, Judah was so passionate about the railroad that he wrote a guide called A Practical Plan for Building the Pacific Railroad, which was published and circulated to the public. In this pamphlet, Judah wrote about a plan to find a route that could be built over the Sierra Nevada. This plan was based on his research that he had used to build the Sacramento Valley Line. After gaining support from California legislators and investors, Judah went to Washington D.C. to gain Federal support for his ideas. In 1860, Judah began exploring different routes over the Sierra Nevada. Along with Daniel Strong, a store owner along the mountain range, they found the route to be used for the transcontinental railroad. This expedition resulted in Judah gaining support from investors who put their money into the construction of the transcontinental railroad.[6] Now that the issue of finding a path over the Sierra Nevada was solved, it was up to the states to decide on the route for the railroad.[7] The Southern states wanted the railroad in the south because they thought that slave labor would be a cheap way to build the railroad. However, the Northern states wanted the railroad to take the northern route because they did not want it to be built using slave labor. Another issue was that the railroad was going to provide economic benefits to the region that it passed through. This issue along with the slavery issue made it impossible for the states to agree on a route for the transcontinental railroad.[8] In August of 1859 Abraham Lincoln, who at the time was a presidential candidate for the Republican Party, came to Council Buffs, Iowa to give a speech.[9] It was at this event that Lincoln met with Grenville Mellen Dodge. Dodge was an engineer and an entrepreneur who was known for his brilliance and his knowledge of the railroads. Abraham Lincoln wanted to get this intelligent man’s opinion on the best route to build a railroad from the Pacific to the Atlantic. After they discussed the topic, Lincoln learned that the best route for the railroad was the 42nd parallel because it was an even spot along the Platte River to the Rocky Mountains. Dodge also suggested the Central Pacific Railroad should start in Council Bluffs, and that the Union Pacific Railroad should start in Omaha. It was because of this conversation that Lincoln would later sign the Pacific Railroad Act in 1862. This occasion would signal the start of two railroad companies racing to complete the first transcontinental railroad.[10] Soon after Lincoln’s inauguration, the Civil War began.[11] Lincoln was busy dealing with the war, but the issue of the transcontinental railroad was still in his mind. The outbreak of the Civil War actually aided the beginning of the Pacific Railroad because the Southern Representatives no longer had a say in the route for the railroad.[12] In 1861, several businessmen lobbied for the railroad. On January 21, 1862, California representative Aaron A. Sargent gave a speech in which he spoke of the railroad as a “necessity of war.”[13] Some of the main points of his speech were that by building a transcontinental railroad the government would actually save money because it would make it easier to transport soldiers, artillery, and mail. The building of the railroad would discourage the Indians from settling on the plains, and the completion of the railroad would encourage trade between the United States, Japan, and China. It would also help unite the nation and bind California to the Union during the Civil War. Soon after this speech the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 was passed by the Senate. The railroads were financed by government bonds. It would be up to each of the railroad companies to sell the bonds to raise capital, and the faster the company built the railroad the more financing they would receive.[14] On December 2, 1863, near Omaha, Nebraska, Governor Alvin Saunders and his groundbreaking ceremony marked the beginning of the Union Pacific Railroad. At the ceremony several hundred people met to see the start of this important railroad. One of the speakers at the ceremony was George Francis who was one of the main people who financed the railroad. Although this date marked the beginning of the Union Pacific Railroad, the creation of the transcontinental railroad actually began on January 8, 1863 in Sacramento, California. This was the date that marked the beginning of the Central Pacific Railroad, which would later connect with the Union Pacific Railroad to become the first transcontinental railroad. In Sacramento, a similar ceremony was held where Governor Leland Stanford also broke the ground to commence the start of the construction of the railroad. At this ceremony, the governor gave a speech during which he proclaimed the importance of this railroad and that someday soon the Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean will be connected by the railroad which would bring the nation together by connecting the eastern and western coasts.[15] The Pacific Railway Act of 1864 was made a law by Lincoln in July. The Pacific Railway Act guaranteed the railroads a certain amount of money for every mile of track that they laid.[16] The railroad companies received more money for tracks that were laid in mountains because these areas were harder to work in. The government provided this money in the form of government loans and federal aid. The loans were to be paid off in thirty years, and the companies received 6,400 acres of land for every mile of track that they laid. The act also made the railroad companies into a much more practical prospect for private investors.[17] Before the construction began for both the Union Pacific Railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad, surveyors went over the path that the railroad was to take, and they finalized a route for the railroad to take. Once construction began on the railroads workers were hired to do the work. The Union Pacific hired several hundred workers who were mainly immigrants from Ireland. The workers were found in big cities where jobs were scarce. The Irish workers were paid about three dollars a day, while the Chinese workers only made about fifty cents a day.[18] However, the Union Pacific got off to a slow start. The lack of manpower due to the Civil War caused a huge problem for the railroad company. Manpower was a necessity to build the railroad because it required thousands of workers to carry the supplies and construct the railroad using seven-hundred pound iron rails. Another problem was the issue of money. While the government did provide federal loans, the railroads had to build a so many miles before the government would give them the money. In addition, many potential investors put their money towards the Civil War instead of towards the railroads. One of the main problems was the issue of the Native Americans. The railroads went right through the area where many of them lived, and the Native Americans were not too happy about the white settlers coming into their native soil.[19] The Native Americans reacted to the white men coming into their territory with violence. Many of them tried to stop the construction by stealing the supplies and attacking the men who were working on the railroads. As the Union Pacific laid more tracks, the Native Americans attempted to stop the trains from running through their territory. The Native Americans also tore up the tracks that had already been laid by the workers, and continued to attack the workers and passengers on the trains. Finally, the government got several of the tribes to sign three agreements known as the Medicine Lodge Treaty. This treaty slowed down the number of attacks, but it did not stop them completely.[20] Once the Union Pacific was able to overcome these problems construction moved much faster.[21] In 1866 the Casement brothers were hired to work on the Union Pacific to help increase the pace of the construction. Then on May 6, 1866, Grenville Dodge became the Union Pacific’s chief engineer. The combination of the Casement brothers and Dodge gave the workers of the Union Pacific the edge that they needed to overcome the many obstacles that faced them. Nearly ten thousand workers were needed to build the Union Pacific. As the workers continued west they were able to use trains to transport the supplies that they needed. Forty train cars were needed to carry the material to build one mile of track, and wagons were used to carry those supplies to the construction sites. In addition the workers were followed by a train that contained their food and housing so that they would be comfortable after their hard work.[22] Shortly after President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act on July 1, 1862, the Central Pacific railroad began construction. The construction on this railroad started out slow for the same reasons that the Union Pacific started off slow. Also, the Civil War led to several shortages on the materials that were needed to construct the railroad. Finances were a big issue when it came to building the railroad. The main investors of the railroad, at one point, decided that they could no longer finance the railroad because it was too big of a risk. However, once Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act of 1864, the Central Pacific was able to work out its finances. This amendment increased the amount of land that the companies got, and the Union Pacific was then able to sell this land to public for money to finance the railroad.[23] Now that the Central Pacific had its finances under control, it needed to work out the issue of labor. The Union Pacific mainly used Irish immigrants as a source of labor. However, the Central Pacific hired mainly Chinese immigrants to build the railroad. These Chinese immigrants had originally come to the United States because of the California gold rush in 1848. Now the Chinese were having trouble finding jobs because many Americans believed that they were inferior. Several thousand Chinese workers were hired, and they proved themselves to be very hard and efficient workers.[24] Now that the issue of labor was resolved, the railroad still needed to decide on the final route for the railroad to take. Several investors in the railroad wanted to take the cheapest route. However, Judah, the railroads chief engineer, wanted to take the safest route even though it was more costly. Before a decision was made, Judah died from yellow fever on November 2, 1863. Now the railroad had to go on without the man who made the transcontinental railroad possible.[25] As the Central Pacific started to reach the Sierra Nevada, the work became increasingly difficult. In some spots the workers had to create tunnels through parts of the mountain to lay the track. This involved dangerous explosives that were used to blast through the mountain. At first the workers used gunpowder as an explosive, but later in 1866 the workers began using nitroglycerin which was much more powerful than gunpowder. Another difficult task that the workers faced was making a path down the sides of Cape Horn. However, the Chinese workers had experience with this type of work and they were able to complete the task that was deemed impossible. While it was very dangerous and risky, the Chinese workers were courageous enough to do the work.[26] The Chinese continued the work through the fall and winter, during the snow and freezing weather conditions. It took the workers for the Central Pacific railroad more than two years to complete a path through the Sierra Nevada. During this time, many workers became sick from the cold weather and several others were frostbitten. In addition, there were forty-four snowstorms including one blizzard that lasted four days. Many workers died because of the cold weather conditions, and several workers died in avalanches. Finally, after hundreds of workers died, the Central Pacific came out of the Sierra Nevada in 1868.[27] Now that the Central Pacific had made it through the mountains it just had to cross the plains. However, it wanted to increase its pace to because it was racing with the Union Pacific. Both railroads were competing to see who could lay the most miles of track and receive the more money from the government. The Central Pacific had an advantage over the Union Pacific. The Central Pacific was able to make friends with the Native Americans, so the workers did not have to fear being attacked by the Native Americans. This allowed the Central Pacific to hire several Native American workers along the way. In addition, the Central Pacific used its friendship with the Native Americans as a way to house and feed its workers.[28] The Central Pacific moved at a steady pace until it finally met the Union Pacific in April of 1868. However, the government had not come to a conclusion about the meeting place for the two railroads, so both of the railroads continued laying down tracks. Finally, Congress decided that the meeting place should be Promontory Summit in Utah. Now the two railroads fought it out to see who would be the first to reach Promontory Summit. The Central Pacific won the battle when it reached the finish spot on April 30. On May 10, 1869 the Golden Spike celebration was held to celebrate the linking of the two railroads.[29] The transcontinental railroad’s completion transformed the United States in many ways. The railroad allowed hundreds of thousands of people to settle in the west where land was abundant. In addition the railroad made it possible for businesses to expand nationally, and it allowed new businesses to be created in the west. One of these businesses was cattle ranching which used the railroad to ship beef to the eastern states.[30] The railroad allowed new communities to be created because people moved where the railroads laid tracks. The transcontinental railroad was so successful and important to the nation’s economy that four more railroads were built after the completion of this railroad. The railroads were vital because of its transportation and its ability to link people to the rest of the nation. Farmers switched from growing subsistence crops to growing cash crops. This allowed the farmers to make money quickly so that they could pay the railroads for the land that they bought. It also allowed the farmers to feed their families and still have crops left over to sell. This in turn boosted the economy because the American people had more money to spend on consumer goods. The railroads also led to increased production, more jobs, and lower prices because the railroads were able to transport goods to areas that were previously isolated. In addition, factories were connected to consumers who needed the products that were being produced, and businesses began to grow leading to technological advances.[31] The railroads contributed to the alteration of the American economy in the nineteenth century. Railroads created a sense of unity among the nation because it linked together the sections of the nation that did not normally communicate. During the years around the Civil War, the railroads experienced economic success and the government had to step in creating several regulations, and giving the nation its first experience with big business. Railroads also became the leading form of internal transportation. The railroads reduced the time that it took for goods and people to travel across the nation, and it changed the way Americans viewed technology. The railroads also brought foreign immigrants to the west which allowed the railroads to pay back its loans that it received from the government.[32] At a time when the nation was divided on several issues, including the issue of slavery, the first transcontinental railroad was built as a way to bring the nation together. The railroad was built to reduce the time that it would take to travel from east to west. It was also used as force to settle the west because the railroad brought settlers and immigrants to the uninhabited west. The first transcontinental railroad played a vital role in the economic success of the United States.

Bibliography
Ambrose, Stephen E. Nothing Like it in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad. New York: Easton Press, 2000.
Cahill, Marie, and Lynne Piade, ed. The History of the Union Pacific. New York: Crescent Books, 1989.
Renehan, Edward J. The Transcontinental Railroad. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 2007.
Uschan, Michael V. The Transcontinental Railroad. Farmington Hills: Lucent Books, 2009.

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[1] Michael V. Uschan, The Transcontinental Railroad (Farmington Hills: Lucent Books, 2009), 32.

[2] Uschan, 32-33.

[3] Uschan, 34.

[4] Uschan, 34-36.

[5] Uschan, 37.

[6] Marie Cahill and Lynne Piade, ed., The History of the Union Pacific (New York: Crescent Books, 1989), 8-11.

[7] Uschan, 41.

[8] Uschan, 41-42.

[9] Edward J. Renehan Jr., The Transcontinetial Railroad (New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 2007), 11.

[10] Stephen E. Ambrose, Nothing Like it in the World: the Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad (New York: Easton Press, 2000), 23-33.
[11] Renehan, 16.

[12] Cahill, 12.

[13] Renehan, 17.

[14] Cahill, 23-30.

[15] Uschan, 10-11.

[16] Uschan, 48.

[17] Renehan, 26-27.

[18] Renehan, 28.

[19] Ambrose, 132-136.

[20] Uschan, 56-60.

[21] Uschan, 61.
[22] Uschan, 62-66.

[23] Ambrose, 123-124. .

[24] Ambrose, 152-155.

[25] Uschan, 71-72.

[26] Ambrose, 235-236.

[27] Uschan, 74-76.

[28] Uschan, 76-77.

[29]Cahill, 14-16.

[30] Cahill, 66-67.
[31] Uschan, 83-85.

[32] Uschan, 81-89.