Transcontinental+Railroad

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Summary of the Building of the Railroad Primary Sources Video Resources Chinese Railway Workers Native Americans African Americans Picture Books about the Transcontinental Railroad

**Summary of the Building of the Railroad**
For background information, link to Building the Transcontinental Railroad from Digital History
 * Link also the A Brief History of the Pacific Railroad from Linda Hall Library

The development of railroads was one of the most important outcomes of the Industrial Revolution.


 * The Transcontinental Railroad linked the country. Not only did the railroad transport people, but it also transported a variety of goods, allowing for new markets and resources as well for manifest destiny.
 * The railroad was built by the Union Pacific and Central Pacific companies.
 * For each mile of track these companies completed, they were rewarded with 640 acres of public land. Overall, the railroad companies were given about 200 million square acres of land.


 * The railroad directors, such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, made their fortunes building the transcontinental railroad.
 * They furthered their fortunes by accepting money from public officials and by charging various shipping rates.

Click on Binding the Nation by Rail for more information on the Transcontinental Railroad.

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For an interactive timeline and map on the race to Utah by the Union Pacific and Central Pacific, visit PBS: Race to Utah!.

See also [|The Story of the First American Transcontinental Railroad]from the Union Pacific Railroad Museum

Driving the Last Spike from the Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco provides an informative overview of figures, like Leland Stanford, responsible for the completion of the transcontinental railroad.

**Primary Sources**


 * [|Railroad Posters and Ads]
 * [|Dot, Dot, Dot. . . Done--Golden Spike]. Historical Photographs from Promontory Point, 1869
 * [|General Sherman's Order for Military Protection of Trains], 1867
 * [|Pacific Railway Act, July 1, 1862]
 * [|A Practical Plan for Building the Pacific Railroad], T.D.Judah, 1857
 * [|Asa Whitney Proposal to Congress], 1848

Excerpt from [|Diary of Railroad Construction Engineer, 1868]

Picture shows the Train That Carried Leland Stanford to the Golden Spike Ceremony. Stanford Watches from the Hill Above

[[image:Multimedia.png]] **Video Resources**

 * [|Transcontinental Railroad]** from BBC. This is the first of five parts; the other parts are also available on YouTube.

from the perspective of a young girl whose father was a Chinese laborer.
 * [|The Transcontinental Railroad: Uniting the States of America,]** the third place student entry in the 2010 National History Day competition

See multimedia materials from the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project from Stanford University.


 * [|Building the Union Pacific]** from Wyoming Tales and Trails

Click here for a youtube clip showing the expansion of the railroads from 1830 to the 1990s

**[[image:Rotating_globe-small.gif]]Chinese Railway Workers**
For additional links on Chinese immigration and Chinese railroad workers, see United States History II.3

[|Timeline:] Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project, Stanford University


 * See also [|Chinese Workers Contributions to Transcontinental Railroad]


 * [|Chinese Laborers in the West]from the Smithsonian.


 * See also [|Courage, Determination Forged Foundation for Chinese-American Labor] from Labor History Articles, American Postal Workers Union.



**[[image:Screen Shot 2016-10-28 at 11.53.33 AM.png width="74" height="66"]]Native Americans**

 * Native Americans and the Transcontinental Railroad, PBS American Experience**


 * Native Americans: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad, Digital Public Library of America**

[|Native Americans and the Transcontinental Railroad]from Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History


 * Reports from the End of the Track** from PBS reports on conflicts with Native peoples as the railroads moved west.

Native Americans and the Railroad, YouTube

**[[image:multicultural.png]]African Americans**
"[|They Also Worked in Large Numbers on the Railroad,"] Panel 38 from Jacob Lawrence, The Migration of the Negro.

===**[|Picture Books about the Transcontinental Railroad]**===

For information on Chinese immigration and the laws regarding Chinese exclusion acts, visit the US Department of State Milestones: 1866-1898
 * [|Coolies] by Yin


 * [|Iron Horses]by Verla Kay


 * [|Ten Mile Day and the Building of the Transcontinental Railroad] by Mary Ann Fraser


 * [|The Great Railroad Race: The Diary of Libby West, Utah Territory 1868]