Transcontinental Railroad Lesson - 40-80 minutes total. Designed for an AP US History class, where there isn’t a lot of time to spend on any one historical topic.

Directions – There are 20 numbered pages in this word document. Each numbered page represents some resource or action that might have been needed to build the TCRR.

1 – Students, with a partner or small group, should decide what were the 5 most important items or events depicted in pages 1-20. (15 minutes)

2 – Discuss as a class. What items or events were most commonly selected as essential? Were there pages that no one selected as being necessary? (10 minutes)

3 - Briefly explain each of the elements on each of the 20 pages. Some are easy for students to understand, and won’t require much explanation. Pages 1, 4, 8, 10, and 19 all relate to the role of the federal government, and students will probably fail to recognize the importance of federal subsidies and land grants. Also, these federal actions were enacted while no southern states were in Congress. This shows the impact of the Civil War and Republican control on Western policy.

4 – (could be a homework assignment) Have students write an essential question that relates to the building of the TCRR. In other words, why is this event relevant or important? Could this essential question apply to today’s events? Share their questions with the entire class.

Some possibilities:

What should be the role of the federal government in helping private corporations?

(Compare to today (Solindra, GM bailout, Bank bailout, tax breaks to create jobs.)

What type of development was Congress trying to encourage in the West? Individual farms – not a plantation system as in the south.

What is the government’s role in providing infrastructure improvements? Compare to today – highways or internet bandwidth improvements or expensive sports stadiums.

By helping the railroads, what businesses were hurt? (concept of creative destruction)

Pony express, wagon trains, sailing ship lines to California.

The Pacific Railway Act July 1, 1862 #1Source: http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/five/railact.htm

Be it enacted, That [names of corporators]; together with five commissioners to be appointed by the Secretary of the Interior... are hereby created and erected into a body corporate... by the name... of "The Union Pacific Railroad Company"... ; and the said corporation is hereby authorized and empowered to lay out, locate, construct, furnish, maintain and enjoy a continuous railroad and telegraph... from a point on the one hundredth meridian of longitude west from Greenwich, between the south margin of the valley of the Republican River and the north margin of the valley of the Platte River, to the western boundary of Nevada Territory, upon the route and terms hereinafter provided...

Sec. 2. That the right of way through the public lands be... granted to said company for the construction of said railroad and telegraph line; and the right... is hereby given to said company to take from the public lands adjacent to the line of said road, earth, stone, timber, and other materials for the construction thereof; said right of way is granted to said railroad to the extent of two hundred feet in width on each side of said railroad when it may pass over the public lands, including all necessary grounds, for stations, buildings, workshops, and depots, machine shops, switches, side tracks, turn tables, and water stations. The United States shall extinguish as rapidly as may be the Indian titles to all lands falling under the operation of this act...

Sec. 3. That there be... granted to the said company, for the purpose of aiding in the construction of said railroad and telegraph line, and to secure the safe and speedy transportation of mails, troops, munitions of war, and public stores thereon, every alternate section of public land, designated by odd numbers, to the amount of five alternate sections per mile on each side of said railroad, on the line thereof, and within the limits of ten miles on each side of said road...

Sec. 5. That for the purposes herein mentioned the Secretary of the Treasury shall... in accordance with the provisions of this act, issue to said company bonds of the United States of one thousand dollars each, payable in thirty years after date, paying six per centum per annum interest... to the amount of sixteen of said bonds per mile for each section of forty miles; and to secure the repayment to the United States...

Sec. 10 ...And the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California after completing its road across said State, is authorized to continue the construction of said railroad and telegraph through the Territories of the United States to the Missouri River... upon the terms and conditions provided in this act in relation to the Union Pacific Railroad Company, until said roads shall meet and connect...

Sec. 11. That for three hundred miles of said road most mountainous and difficult of construction, to wit: one hundred and fifty miles westerly from the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains, and one hundred and fifty miles eastwardly from the western base of the Sierra Nevada mountains... the bonds to be issued to aid in the construction thereof shall be treble the number per mile hereinbefore provided... and between the sections last named of one hundred and fifty miles each, the bonds to be issued to aid in the construction thereof shall be double the number per mile first mentioned...

#2

 The Richard Norris-built Gov. Stanford was one the Central Pacific's early locomotives. (The Barry A. Swackhamer Collection) [Hart Stereograph #1.  Locomotive STANFORD probably at Newcastle, Cal.]

Source: http://cprr.org/Museum/RR_Shipped_by_Sea/_rr_shipped_by_sea_05.html

#3

Source: http://rewilding.org/rewildit/around-the-campfire-with-uncle-dave-the-buffalo-are-gone/

#4

Source: http://mrkash.com/activities/images/election1860map.jpg

#5

Source: http://www.pointtopointsurvey.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/image001.png

#6

The 15 tunnels along the Central Pacific line required massive amounts of explosives to blast through solid granite. In addition to nitroglycerin produced on-site, crews used as many as 500 kegs of black powder a day during the construction phase through the Sierra Nevadas.

Source: http://railroad.lindahall.org/siteart/essays/dynamite.jpg

Source: http://railroad.lindahall.org/essays/black-powder.html

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/CPRR_Donner_Summit_Tunnel_Hand_Drilled_Granite_1868.jpg

#7

Source: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/2b/f4/52/2bf4528d056bc5743f72c5ad50d561cd.png

#8

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/Abraham_Lincoln_head_on_shoulders_photo_portrait.jpg

#9

Source: http://photographyinparadise.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/01/railroad-rails.jpg

Source: http://s3.freefoto.com/images/25/22/25_22_26_web.jpg

#10

Homestead Act (1862)

Passed on May 20, 1862, the Homestead Act accelerated the settlement of the western territory by granting adult heads of families 160 acres of surveyed public land for a minimal filing fee and 5 years of continuous residence on that land.

The Homestead Act, enacted during the Civil War in 1862, provided that any adult citizen, or intended citizen, who had never borne arms against the U.S. government could claim 160 acres of surveyed government land. Claimants were required to “improve” the plot by building a dwelling and cultivating the land. After 5 years on the land, the original filer was entitled to the property, free and clear, except for a small registration fee. Title could also be acquired after only a 6-month residency and trivial improvements, provided the claimant paid the government $1.25 per acre. After the Civil War, Union soldiers could deduct the time they had served from the residency requirements.

Although this act was included in the Republican party platform of 1860, support for the idea began decades earlier. Even under the Articles of Confederation, before 1787, the distribution of government lands generated much interest and discussion.

Source: https://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?doc=31

#11

Source: http://wyomingsteakhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/735-Preparing-for-tie-drive-in-Medicine-Bow-from-original-dura.jpg

Source: http://lynn.boston-baden.com/lvb/tc-pix/float.gif

Source: http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/images/goldenspike1.jpg

#12

CALIFORNIA MINESThe California Gold Rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was discovered by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill, in Coloma, California. News of the discovery soon spread, resulting in some 300,000 men, women, and children coming to California from the rest of the United States and abroad. The early gold-seekers, called "Forty-niners" (as a reference to 1849) traveled to California by sailing boat and in covered wagons across the continent, often facing substantial hardships on the trip.

Source: http://www.miningartifacts.org/gold_rush_-_CA.jpg

#13

Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/11/Hornetclippership.jpg/220px-Hornetclippership.jpg

Source: http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/02IAAOSwcwhVKFK0/s-l300.jpg

#14

Source: http://www.truewestmagazine.com/wp-content/uploads/2004/05/big-four.jpg

#15

Source: http://s3-media3.fl.yelpcdn.com/bphoto/z8h7413S9k4haZ46lydW2Q/348s.jpg

Source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/K4YgEMykqAQ/hqdefault.jpg

#16

Source: http://www.mediastorehouse.com/p/473/transcontinental-railroad-workers-attacked-by-native-5886147.jpg

Source: http://www.tcrr.com/Indians-and-railroad-Vaningen-Snyder.jpg

#17

Source: http://www.railwayage.com/media/k2/items/cache/d2e3d54514385659ad966a8aaacd498e_XL.jpg

Source: http://www.ourtownperrysburg.com/image/2013/08/05/800x600_b1cCM_p101/MAG-CPtrain-sczesny-coal.jpg

Source: http://www.durangoherald.com/storyimage/DU/20110807/NEWS01/708079892/EP/1/8/EP-708079892.jpg&maxw=620&maxh=400

#18

Source: http://www.sfmuseum.net/photos5/judah2.gif

#19

Source: https://s3.amazonaws.com/ps-services-us-east-1-914248642252/s3/research-wiki-elasticsearch-prod-s3bucket/images/thumb/e/e7/Railroad_Land_Grant_Checkerboard.jpg/400px-Railroad_Land_Grant_Checkerboard.jpg

Source: https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/blm/history/images/fig1-14.jpg

#20