1. The Power of the Road The American West

2. What was the railroad expected to do for the West?  Allow for the exchange of goods and people between the east and west

3. What was the difference between a Charette and a Conestoga wagon?  Conestoga- drawn by large teams of mules  Charette- two wheeled, ox-drawn cart

4. What was the genesis of the American Express Company?  Californians petitioned for a overland mail route and Congress contracted John Butterfield who teamed up with Henry Wells and William Fargo (operators of a system of California stage lines) to form the American Express Company

5. How much did a letter cost to send by the Pony Express? (in todays dollars)  $180!!!  CRAZY!

6. What American politician came up with the plan to finance the construction of a transcontinental railroad?  Thomas Hart Benton  How much land did the gov’t give to railroads?  131 million acres

7. What was the Credit Mobilier Scandal?  Thomas C. Durant, leader of the Union Pacific, set up subsidiary corporation called the Credit Mobilier who was the principal stockholder.  Durant channeled all construction contracts to Credit Mobilier to exaggerate expenses up to 3X the real amount  This caused the UP business to have little profit and the Credit Mobilier to pay huge dividends

8. Who worked on the UP railroad? The CP Railroad?  UP- Irish  CP-Chinese

9. Julesburg, Colorado  It became known as the most scandalous UP camp with railroad workers, bartenders, gamblers, prostitutes and assorted criminals

10. Biggest Problem with the transcontinental railroad…  The work was shoddy!  Improperly laid ballasts  Railroad beds collapsed  Too sharp curves  Trains derailed  Wood rotted quickly  Ten million to fix the UP! (profits from Credit Mobilier 16 million)

11. 5 railroads:  The Atchison  Topeka  Santa Fe  Southern Pacific  Northern Pacific

12. Key instrument in transforming the west from….  Preindustrial forms of economic activity to modern industrial technology

13. Henry George thought of the railroads success….  “The locomotive is a great centralizer. It kills little towns and builds up great cities, and in the same way kills little business and builds up new ones”  The railroad system was monopolized by four companies  Henry wondered by railroads reaped the benefits of the rising value of the land while society at large received so little.

14. American Robin Hood  Grew out of the passion people felt about the corruption of capitalist conquest in the west.  Only the companies were getting rich  Two ideas that caused it  Western antilaw tradition  Newer protests against corporate industrial power

15. Famous Strike:  The Pullman Strike