1. Modern US History

2. Use the Venn diagram to show how Pictures of Nature and Railroads were used to show different beliefs about America’s western frontier.

7. Pictures of Nature Pictures of Railroads

8. Between 1850 and 1871 the federal government made huge land grants to the railroads – a total of 170 million acres. These grants were to help the Railroads earn money to lay track across the country. In the 1860’s two companies began to race across the country – the Central Pacific moved east from Sacramento and the Union Pacific moved west from Omaha.

9. In 1869 both companies reached each other at Promontory Point in Utah.

10. The joining of these railroads made the first transcontinental railroad

11. To pay to build the railroads, the companies sold their land for between $2- $10 an acre. Some companies also sent agents to Europe to sell land to immigrants. By 1880, 44% of the settlers in Nebraska and 70% of settlers in Minnesota and Wisconsin were immigrants from Europe.

12. 20,000 men worked to build the first transcontinental railroad over 6 years. Civil War veterans, immigrants from Ireland and China, African Americans, and Mexican Americans did the hard labor required to build the railroad.

13. On the Central Pacific line more than 90% of the labor force (12,000 people) was Chinese. While the Chinese workers received the same amount of pay as the whites, they did not receive lodging and board like the whites did.

14. Working on the railroad was extremely dangerous and hard work. Men died from a variety of accidents including the railroad’s adoption of using nitroglycerin to make tunneling work more efficient.

15. The railroad helped to connect settlers in the west with the well-established states in the East. This helped to unify this vast nation into one America. The railroads allowed for items from the west to arrive in the East for market. Cattle, sheep, grain, corn and exotic produce such as oranges were shipped from the west to the Eastern cities. This created markets for Western settlers and new experiences for Easterners.

16. The railroad dramatically decreased the amount of time required to travel between the two coasts. This decrease in time is what led to a greater connection between the East and West.

17. Mode of Transportation Approximate Time between NYC and San Francisco when the RR began Safety of Transportation Train10 daysSafest Ship (around Southern tip of South America) 6 monthsSafe Wagon6 months from Missouri plus the time to get to Missouri Least Safe

18. Safety Time Sketch a graph of the safety and speed differences between these modes of travel RRShipWagon

19. The train companies ran their track through territory previously controlled by various Native American tribes. To stop the initial conflicts between the two groups, the railroad companies realized that the Native Americans would be weakened without a large buffalo population. Therefore trains often stopped to allow passengers or workers to shoot as many buffalo as possible – then the buffalo were often left to rot on the prairie.

20. Buffalo Bill Cody killed over 4000 bison in 2 years to provide meat for Railroad workers Shooting buffalo from a train

21. Millions of buffalo used to roam the American plains, but by 1880 just a few thousand remained with the largest herd (a few hundred) hiding in Yellowstone National Park. Some believe that by decimating the buffalo population, the Railroad Companies and other buffalo hunters did more damage to the Plains Indians than the American Army.