Transcontinental Railroad: The Challenge of Bridging a Continent

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Transcontinental Railroad The Challenge of
Bridging a Continent

• What key elements affected the construction of
  the Transcontinental Railroad?

By Jennifer Carroll and Marty Garrett
Photo Credit http//www.ambrosevideo.com/resource
s/docs/173.JPG
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Rails in the East

• First rails were laid in the mid 1700s

• Better form of transportation

• By the mid 1800s rails were all over the East
  Coast

Photo Credit John Spragens, Jr
http//www.enigmaterial.com/heartmt/tracks.html.
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How to Get to California in mid 1800s?

• By ship 4 to 6 months

• By covered wagon 3 to 4 months

• By foot Too long!

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First Rails in California

• Theodore Judah was the engineer of the
• Sacramento Valley Railroad Company

• His work allowed for the first railroad to be
• completed in 1856

Photo Credit http//baytrail.abag.ca.gov/vtour/ma
p3/access/BTAlviso/RRtracks.JPG
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Contributors to the Rail

• Chinese laborers
• The Big Four
• Theodore Judah

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The Challenge of Geography

• The Sierra Nevada
• The Rocky Mountains
• The Great Basin

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Mid-19th Century United States

• Manifest Destiny
• Industrial Revolution
• Civil War