Why transcontinental railroad was built

Construction of the railroad provided many opportunities for financial chicanery, corruption, graft, and bribery. The greatest financial scandal of the 19th century grew out of the railroad's construction. The president of the Union Pacific helped found a construction company, called Credit Mobilier, which allowed investors, including several members of Congress, to grant lucrative construction contracts to themselves, while nearly bankrupting the railroad.

The railroad had profound effects on American life. New phrases entered the American vocabulary such as "time's up," "time's a wasting," and "the train is leaving the station. In addition, the railroads founded many of the towns on the Great Plains on land grants they were awarded by the federal government, and then sold the land to settlers.

The completion of the transcontinental railroad changed the nation. Western agricultural products, coal, and minerals could move freely to the east coast.

Passengers and freight could reach the west coast in a matter of days instead of months at one-tenth the cost. Settlers rushed into what was previously considered a desert wasteland. The Census would declare that the American frontier had disappeared. The railroad was a major cause. Telegraph wires wrapped around spike and sledgehammer transmitted the impact instantaneously east and west. In San Francisco and New York, wires had been connected to cannons facing outward across the ocean. When the signal from the spike came through, the cannons fired.

The world was put on notice: the transcontinental railroad was completed and America was moving to the forefront of the world's stage. The World Grew Smaller One day later, the first transcontinental freight train rumbled out of California on its way to the east coast.

It carried in its hold an emissary of the Asian markets: a shipment of Japanese teas. On May 15, though the road required hundreds of thousands of dollars in patchwork along its length, regular passenger service opened for business. Travelers could make the trip between San Francisco and New York in a week. No longer did passengers or cargo have to take the treacherous route across ocean and Panama that had killed railroad advocate Theodore Judah. The coasts were connected -- and the world as Americans knew it had grown smaller.

A Competing Canal Railroad pioneer Asa Whitney had once dreamed an iron route would re-center the world toward America, making it a conduit of exchange between Asia and Europe. In this sense, his vision of the grand project remained unfulfilled. Just six months after the meeting at Promontory Summit, workers half the world away consummated their own monumental feat of engineering. Opened in November, , Egypt's Suez Canal linked Asia and India to Europe by a single waterway, thus ensuring that exchange between the two regions would continue to circumvent American soil.

It was built on land grants, government loans, and government guaranteed bonds. When their loans came due, they refused to pay and the government had to sue. In effect, they stumbled into a business model where the public takes the risk and those taking the subsidies reap the gain.

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Live TV. This Day In History. History Vault. Call Number: HE I A3. A report by Congress on the necessity to connect the east and west coast with a railroad and telegraph lines as a way to maintain the US position on the Pacific coast, particularly in light of the discovery of gold.

Library of Congress Digital Resources The following resources created or digitized by the Library of Congress can be used to find out more about the railroad as well as the events of the day. Digitized Image Collections Library of Congress If there's a specific image collection on the topic, use that.

Century of Lawmaking The project includes the Journals of the House of Representatives and the Senate , including the Senate Executive Journal ; the Journal of William Maclay ; the debates of Congress as published in the Annals of Congress , the Register of Debates , Congressional Globe , and Congressional Record ; the Statutes at Large ; the American State Papers ; and congressional bills and resolutions for selected sessions beginning with the 6th Congress in the House of Representatives and the 16th Congress in the Senate.

This is a good resource for what was going on in the United States at the the time the Transcontinental Railroad was built as well as articles looking at the bigger railroad industry. Railroad Maps, The Library of Congress has many railroad maps including those related to the Transcontinental Railroad. This is a cartographic perspective on the transcontinental railroad.

It is part of the large collection of railroad maps held by the Library. Railroads: Sources for Historical Research This is a guide from Business Reference staff with resources for those interested in researching the larger industry but does include a specific section related to the Transcontinental Railroad.

Today in History May 10, : "Wedding of the Rails" A brief piece about the completion of the transcontinental railroad. United States Statutes at Large These are links to the volumes where the related laws can be found. Pacific Railroad Act of 12 Stat. Internet Resources These freely available online resources provide additional information on the topic.

Central Pacific Railroad Photographic History Museum External A collection of digitized and transcribed material related to the building of the transcontinental railroad and the Central Pacific Railroad.