WOH-1023 Chapter Notes - Chapter 4: Helen Hunt Jackson, Transcontinental Railroad, Frederick Jackson Turner
Document Summary
The transcontinental railroad (railroads, dates, completion point: started in omaha nebraska, connected to sacramento california, 1800 miles, ended in promontory point utah, 1862, pacific railroad act (define, methods of funding railroad subsidies, land grants, checkerboard pattern) Authorized the building of a transcontinental railroad over a northern route in order to link the economics of california and the western territories with the eastern states. Companies paid 16,000 on the plains 32,000 on the great basin, and 48,000 through mountains for each mile of track. Land grants companies received 10 (later 20) sections of land for each miles of track built. Railroad companies given alternate sections: made a checkerboard pattern between land grants and railroad company land acquisition. 33 million acres given to railroad companies: who built it (union pacific, central pacific) Irish immigrants, former slaves, and civil war veterans. A trip that had taken 4-6 months now took 5-6 days. Time zones created by railroads to keep trains on time.
