Communication in the West and the Transcontinental Railroad!!!

Communication in the West and the Transcontinental Railroad!!!

What was communication like during Westward Expansion?

If people wanted to get letters from the West back to the East, the fastest way was the Express. The Pony Express was able to deliver a letter in 10-14 days by using a system of horse riders who would ride for a short time and pass the letters off to each other!

Better technology comes along A new technology came along that made it much faster to get messages back and forth between the East and West coasts. This new technology was called a machine. It used as a way to communicate. It was a system on lines, dots, and dashes that meant different letters.

The telegraph moved messages quickly, but we needed a way to move people quickly

Break it down Transcontinental Trans=across Continental=the USA

The Transcontinental Railroad It was 1,775 miles from Omaha, NE to Sacramento, CA. (Page 130 in textbook)

The Transcontinental Railroad Railroads had already transformed life in the East, but at the end of the Civil War railroad tracks still stopped at the Missouri River. For a quarter of a century, men had dreamed of building a line from coast to coast. Now they would attempt to lay 1,775 miles of track from Omaha to Sacramento. Slide #1

The Transcontinental Railroad A path would have to be cut through mountains higher than any railroad-builder had ever faced; span deserts where there was no water anywhere; and cross treeless prairies where anxious and defiant Indians would resist their passage.

The Transcontinental Railroad In 1862, Congress gave charters to two companies to build these tracks. The Central Pacific was to push eastward from Sacramento, over the Sierra Nevada mountains. The Union Pacific was to start from Omaha Nebraska, cross the great plains and cut through the Rockies.

The Transcontinental Railroad The Union Pacific and Central Pacific were soon locked in a race to see who could lay the most track -- and therefore get the most land and money. Somewhere in the West -- no one knew exactly where -- the two lines were supposed to meet. Slide #5

The Transcontinental Railroad In 1862, Congress loaned the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroads $16,000 per mile of level track and $48,000 per mile of mountain track. Congress also promised each company 6,400 acres of federal land for every mile of track it laid. Slide #13

The Transcontinental Railroad In 1865, Crocker, in charge of construction, found a solution to their work force problem. Besides hiring Irish immigrants who worked for low pay, the Central pacific Railroad employed over 10,000 immigrants. Slide #14

The Transcontinental Railroad In 1866, the CPR had 44 blizzards while trying to tunnel through the Sierras. In 1869, the CPR laid 360 miles of track. On April 28, 1869, the CPR crew set a record of laying 10 miles in twelve hours. Slide #15

Negative Aspects of the Transcontinental Railroad When the railroads crossed the plains they affected the herds of that had freely wandered there. The RR tracks were usually trampled on by the herds.

Disadvantages of the Transcontinental Railroad The Railroad owners hired to shoot them so they wouldn t mess up the railroad. Soon the population of bison and buffalo began to. The Native Americans were very, very unhappy because they relied on the buffalo to live! Aside from the buffalo problem, the smoke from the coal engines began to the air.

The Advantages of the Transcontinental Railroad Traveling by RR was so many people used it. If they couldn t afford the train, they still traveled by covered wagon. The RR attracted many new to the US! The settlers moved West to try to make money by farming. The RR provided a way for getting their to the markets.

More Advantages of the Transcontinental Railroad The RR transported agricultural products to processing centers and helped major industries such as flour milling and meat processing develop in large cities like Chicago.

The Impact of the Railroads The railroads spurred economic growth. Steelworkers turned millions of tons of iron into steel for tracks and engines. Lumberjacks supplied wood for railroad ties. Miners dug coal to fuel the engines. The railroads opened every corner of the country to settlement and growth.

The Transcontinental Railroad Finally, on May 10, 1869, The CPR and UPR met at, Utah. The presidents of both railroads, Stanford and Durant, swung at the last gold spike. Slide #16

Here are your notes: The Pony Express and Telegraph were helpful for getting news across the country, but the Transcontinental Railroad was built to get people across the country. In 1862, Lincoln decided to build the RR. Two Companies started building the RR on each side of the country. They were racing to get the most land and money from the government. The RR companies had African-Americans and Immigrants work for them. People were able to make the trip on a train in only 3

Let s create a chart of all of the advantages and disadvantages the RR brought. Advantages Quick Travel Time Move Crops Able to Make more $ More immigration Transfer Supplies Cheap Disadvantages If the track broke, the train could crash Killed Buffalo Pollution

What was it like??? Turn to page 129 in your SS book! We are going to become the picture and you will be interviewed as if you are the people in the picture!