Download or read book Events that Changed the Course of History The Story of the Transcontinental Railway 150 Years Later written by Anyone Pierucci and published by Atlantic Publishing Company. This book was released on 2020-01-14 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the 21st century, it’s easy to get from New York to California — take a road trip, board a plane, or hop on a train; you’ll be there in no time. The continental United States is separated by mere hours. But back in the 19th century, a journey from New York to California required voyaging around the entire continent by sea in disease- and vermin-infested ships or trekking across great stretches of unknown wilderness by covered wagon, a perilous journey that could take up to a year. But the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 changed everything. Travel was no longer relegated to the very rich or the very courageous. The average American could now make the coast-to-coast expedition in a matter of days for less than $150. It may seem like a railroad that spanned the massive continent was an obvious solution, but it wasn’t as simple as just laying some tracks. Such a feat was a high-risk business venture that most couldn’t envision ever being completed. The transcontinental railway was possible because of dreamers like Asa Whitney and Theodore Judah, the cutthroat businessmen who invested monetarily, and the millions of laborers who invested their own blood, sweat, and tears. into an unimaginably immense and momentous display of human ingenuity. Events That Changed the Course of History: The Story of the Transcontinental Railway 150 Years Later follows the transcontinental railway’s history, from the creation of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific companies (and the backroom dealing that made them possible) to the Credit Mobilier scandal and strikes on the front lines that threatened to upend the entire project. The transcontinental railway changed the course of history, setting us on a path to expansion that opened the door to the West like never before. Take a journey and learn more about the unimaginably immense and momentous display of human ingenuity that forever changed American life.

Download or read book The Transcontinental Railroad written by Edward Renehan and published by Infobase Publishing. This book was released on 2007 with total page 129 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In May 1869, the US railroad network unified when the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads came together in Promontory, Utah. This book discusses the important milestone in the expansion of the United States and its impact on the nation, both positive and negative.

Download or read book The Transcontinental Railroad written by Therese Harasymiw and published by Greenhaven Publishing LLC. This book was released on 2017-07-15 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Readers may know the basic facts about the creation of the first transcontinental railroad, but the full story behind the push to connect the United States by rail is much more than the names and dates taught in history classes. Readers discover the exciting, important details—including the contributions of immigrants—as they encounter engaging main text, comprehensive sidebars, and historical images that include carefully chosen primary sources. These text features come together to give readers an in-depth look at the first successful attempt to connect the United States through transportation.

Download or read book The Transcontinental Railroad written by Budd Bailey and published by Cavendish Square Publishing, LLC. This book was released on 2017-07-15 with total page 66 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: People today refer to the Midwestern and prairie states as flyover country. During the Civil War, crossing those areas was the biggest obstacle in uniting the East and West Coasts of our divided nation. An act of Congress in 1862 authorized the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific railroad companies to build a railroad that would link the coasts. Seven years later, on May 10, 1869, an overwhelmingly immigrant labor force completed the task when a rail line was join in Promontory, Utah. The states had become united at last.

Download or read book The Transcontinental Railroad written by Michael V. Uschan and published by Greenhaven Publishing LLC. This book was released on 2009-05-11 with total page 106 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This colorful and easy-to-read volume presents background of the Transcontinental railroad, including the increasing demand for land and the partnership between government and wealthy individuals. It tells the tale of how more than 1,700 miles of track were built through mountains and deserts by using mere shovels and picks. The book explains the impact of the railroad on the nation's settlement and how Native Americans lost their land to white homesteaders. Readers will learn about the technical challenges and huge scale of the task overcome by the hard labor of thousands of workers to connect the nation across itself.

Download or read book The Transcontinental Railroad written by Dan Elish and published by . This book was released on 1993 with total page 70 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes the efforts to build the first railroad to link the eastern and western United States and the obstacles that had to be overcome in the process.

Download or read book Nothing Like It In the World written by Stephen E. Ambrose and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2001-11-06 with total page 468 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The story of the men who build the transcontinental railroad in the 1860's.

Download or read book The Transcontinental Railroad written by Charles River Charles River Editors and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2014-12-04 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: *Includes pictures *Includes accounts written by newspapers, railroad workers and executives *Includes a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "The necessity that now exists for constructing lines of railroad and telegraphic communication between the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of this continent is no longer a question for argument; it is conceded by every one. In order to maintain our present position on the Pacific, we must have some more speedy and direct means of intercourse than is at present afforded by the route through the possessions of a foreign power." - 1856 report made by the Select Committee on the Pacific Railroad and Telegraph of the U.S. House of Representatives The Transcontinental Railroad, laid across the United States during the 1860s, remains the very epitome of contradiction. On the one hand, it was a triumph of engineering skills over thousands of miles of rough terrain, but on the other hand, it drained the natural resources in those places nearly dry. It "civilized" the American West by making it easier for women and children to travel there, but it dispossessed Native American civilizations that had lived there for generations. It made the careers of many men and destroyed the lives from many others. It was bold and careless, ingenious and cruel, gentle and violent, and it enriched some and bankrupted others. In short, it was the best and worst of 19th century America in action. As settlers pushed west and the Gold Rush brought an influx of Americans to California, the need for something like the Transcontinental Railroad was apparent to the government in the 1850s, and with the help of private companies, government officials conducted all kinds of land surveys in order to plot a course. Of course, even once a route was chosen, the backbreaking work itself had to be done to connect railroad lines across the span of nearly 2,000 miles. This required an incredible amount of manpower, often consisting of unskilled laborers engaging in dangerous work, and the financial resources poured into it were also extreme. J. . O. Wilder, a Central Pacific-Southern Pacific employee, described a typical scene: "The Chinese were as steady, hard-working a set of men as could be found. With the exception of a few whites at the west end of Tunnel No. 6, the laboring force was entirely composed of Chinamen with white foremen and a 'boss/translator'. A single foreman (often Irish) with a gang of 30 to 40 Chinese men generally constituted the force at work at each end of a tunnel; of these, 12 to 15 men worked on the heading, and the rest on the bottom, removing blasted material. When a gang was small or the men were needed elsewhere, the bottoms were worked with fewer men or stopped so as to keep the headings going." Ultimately, the project was considered so important that work on it progressed throughout the Civil War, and it took the better part of the 1860s before it was finally completed. Once the railroad was in place, it proved a boon to building up the American West, especially the Southwest and Pacific Northwest in places like Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Colorado, Oregon and Washington. The Transcontinental Railroad chronicles the construction of the railroad that connected America's coasts. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Transcontinental Railroad like never before, in no time at all.

Download or read book The First Transcontinental Railroad written by James K. Wheaton and published by BookCaps Study Guides. This book was released on 2011 with total page 45 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The First Transcontinental Railroad, originally called the Pacific Railroad, was a railroad built in the United States between 1863 and 1869 that connected the western part of America with its eastern part. Built by the Central Pacific Railroad of California and the Union Pacific Railroad, it connected the Eastern terminus of Council Bluffs, Iowa/Omaha, Nebraska with the railroad lines of the Pacific Ocean at Oakland, California. In time, it would link in with the existing railway network present on the Eastern Coast of America, thus connecting the Atlantic and Pacific coast of the United States for the first time by rail. Because of this, the line received a second nickname, “the Overland Route.” The railroad was a government operation, authorized by Congress during the height of the Civil War. Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Acts in 1862 and again in 1864. To pay for it, the US government issued 30 year bonds, as well as granting government land to contractors. The construction of the line was a major achievement by both the Union Pacific (constructing westward from Iowa) and the Central Pacific (constructing eastward from California). The line was officially opened on May 10, 1869, with the Last Spike driven through the railway at Promontory Summit, Utah. James K. Wheaton looks at the history in this eBook.

Download or read book The Golden Spike written by Don Nardo and published by Capstone. This book was released on 2015-02-01 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the mid-1860s, as the Union Pacific Railroad headed westward from Nebraska, another company, the Central Pacific, pushed eastward from California. Their goal was to meet somewhere in between, forming a single railway line that would bridge the continent. That historic meeting took place in May 1869 in northern Utah, and photographer Andrew J. Russell was there to document the historic event. His work resulted in one of the most important photos of the 19th century and probably the most famous railroad image of all time. The photo, often called ñEast and West,î was viewed by a worldwide audience and affirmed that railroads were at the cutting edge of transportation technology. The continent was now linked.

Download or read book Gateway to Freedom The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad written by Eric Foner and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2015-01-19 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The dramatic story of fugitive slaves and the antislavery activists who defied the law to help them reach freedom. More than any other scholar, Eric Foner has influenced our understanding of America's history. Now, making brilliant use of extraordinary evidence, the Pulitzer Prize–winning historian once again reconfigures the national saga of American slavery and freedom. A deeply entrenched institution, slavery lived on legally and commercially even in the northern states that had abolished it after the American Revolution. Slaves could be found in the streets of New York well after abolition, traveling with owners doing business with the city's major banks, merchants, and manufacturers. New York was also home to the North’s largest free black community, making it a magnet for fugitive slaves seeking refuge. Slave catchers and gangs of kidnappers roamed the city, seizing free blacks, often children, and sending them south to slavery. To protect fugitives and fight kidnappings, the city's free blacks worked with white abolitionists to organize the New York Vigilance Committee in 1835. In the 1840s vigilance committees proliferated throughout the North and began collaborating to dispatch fugitive slaves from the upper South, Washington, and Baltimore, through Philadelphia and New York, to Albany, Syracuse, and Canada. These networks of antislavery resistance, centered on New York City, became known as the underground railroad. Forced to operate in secrecy by hostile laws, courts, and politicians, the city’s underground-railroad agents helped more than 3,000 fugitive slaves reach freedom between 1830 and 1860. Until now, their stories have remained largely unknown, their significance little understood. Building on fresh evidence—including a detailed record of slave escapes secretly kept by Sydney Howard Gay, one of the key organizers in New York—Foner elevates the underground railroad from folklore to sweeping history. The story is inspiring—full of memorable characters making their first appearance on the historical stage—and significant—the controversy over fugitive slaves inflamed the sectional crisis of the 1850s. It eventually took a civil war to destroy American slavery, but here at last is the story of the courageous effort to fight slavery by "practical abolition," person by person, family by family.

Download or read book Full Steam Ahead written by Rhoda Blumberg and published by National Geographic Kids. This book was released on 1996 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Influenced both by the Gold Rush and the Civil War, America came to realize that a link to the far West was vital. In the mid-1800s, the Union Pacific railroad company, along with their rival, the Central Pacific company, raced to cover the most ground before meeting at Promontory Summit, Utah in 1869. Blumberg vividly evokes the people, places, danger and perseverance surrounding an American milestone. Over 70 period illus. Young Adult.

Download or read book Building the Transcontinental Railroad written by Kelly Wittmann and published by Gareth Stevens Publishing LLLP. This book was released on 2017-07-15 with total page 50 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A railroad across the United States was once thought to be nearly impossible. The vast expanse from the Pacific to the Atlantic Oceans had so many obstacles, including towering mountain ranges and broad rivers. However, the 1862 Pacific Railroad Act tasked two railroad companies—the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific—with building a transcontinental railroad to link the coasts. How they managed to meet finally in 1869 is the important account detailed in this well-researched volume. Readers will learn about key characters, such as engineer Theodore Judah and investor Leland Stanford, and the innovations and technologies that made their extraordinary feat a reality.

Download or read book Empire Express written by David Haward Bain and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2000-09-01 with total page 1432 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After the Civil War, the building of the transcontinental railroad was the nineteenth century's most transformative event. Beginning in 1842 with a visionary's dream to span the continent with twin bands of iron, Empire Express captures three dramatic decades in which the United States effectively doubled in size, fought three wars, and began to discover a new national identity. From self--made entrepreneurs such as the Union Pacific's Thomas Durant and era--defining figures such as President Lincoln to the thousands of laborers whose backbreaking work made the railroad possible, this extraordinary narrative summons an astonishing array of voices to give new dimension not only to this epic endeavor but also to the culture, political struggles, and social conflicts of an unforgettable period in American history.

Download or read book Iron Rails Iron Men and the Race to Link the Nation The Story of the Transcontinental Railroad written by Martin W. Sandler and published by Candlewick. This book was released on 2015-09-08 with total page 225 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Experience the race of rails to link the country—and meet the men behind this incredible feat—in a riveting story about the building of the transcontinental railroad, brought to life with archival photos. In the 1850s, gold fever swept the West, but people had to walk, sail, or ride horses for months on end to seek their fortune. The question of faster, safer transportation was posed by national leaders. But with 1,800 miles of seemingly impenetrable mountains, searing deserts, and endless plains between the Missouri River and San Francisco, could a transcontinental railroad be built? It seemed impossible. Eventually, two railroad companies, the Central Pacific, which laid the tracks eastward, and the Union Pacific, which moved west, began the job. In one great race between iron men with iron wills, tens of thousands of workers blasted the longest tunnels that had ever been constructed, built the highest bridges that had ever been created, and finally linked the nation by two bands of steel, changing America forever.

Download or read book Empire s Tracks written by Manu Karuka and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2019-03-05 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Empire’s Tracks boldly reframes the history of the transcontinental railroad from the perspectives of the Cheyenne, Lakota, and Pawnee Native American tribes, and the Chinese migrants who toiled on its path. In this meticulously researched book, Manu Karuka situates the railroad within the violent global histories of colonialism and capitalism. Through an examination of legislative, military, and business records, Karuka deftly explains the imperial foundations of U.S. political economy. Tracing the shared paths of Indigenous and Asian American histories, this multisited interdisciplinary study connects military occupation to exclusionary border policies, a linked chain spanning the heart of U.S. imperialism. This highly original and beautifully wrought book unveils how the transcontinental railroad laid the tracks of the U.S. Empire.

Download or read book When Railroads Were New written by Charles Frederick Carter and published by . This book was released on 1909 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: