Transcontinental Railroad-1869

After the Civil War, America was still healing. There still was a slight divide between the North and the South. The Railroad brought the whole nation together, to appreciate what they had accomplished, it had a huge impact on America. A four month trip was transformed into a three and a half day trip.

The Railroad was made post to the Civil War, so the country needed to unite again, and feel like one nation again. The Federal Government paid for the Railroad and also provided incentives. The Central Pacific, from Sacramento, California, and the Union Pacific, from Omaha, Nebraska, raced to connect the two ends of the Railroad. The men laying down the track faced difficulties, such as; the Sierra Mountains, Weather, Water, Labor, and conflict with the Native Americans. The men who built the track were given a piece of land the size of California and Most of Montana.  The Traintrack took six years to complete, it finally ended in Promontory Point, Utah. The Railroad was purposefully made to be 1,776 miles long, to mark our independence.

The Railroad brought homesteaders  and cowboys to the West, for new opportunity, cheap, futile land and industry. Cowboys mainly came from Texas and areas around there, there was a meat surplus. The cowboys created trails up North, where people would be willing to pay a good price for the meat. The first trail created was the Goodnight-Loving trail. The trails would mainly end in Chicago, which then became famous as a meat-packing state. A new act was enforced, the Homestead Act. This act allowed families to rent 160 acres for 10 dollars. If they took care of the land and nurtured it after 7 years, they were allowed to keep it. However, Homesteaders faced difficulties like; no company, water, food and wood.

Native Americans and Buffalo hunters struggled to keep peace. The Buffalo hunters saw the Buffalo as an opportunity to get rich, but the Buffalo were apart of the Native American culture. However, the native Americans were forced onto a reservation after the Oklahoma Land Rush. the Indians were beginning to lose more and more of their territory. After Custer was defeated at Little BigHorn and Wounded Knee the Indian Tribes dissolved. The Dawes Act was enforced on the Indians. This act was an attempt to Americanize the Indians, but this eventually failed. There was also tension between farmers and Cowboys, this turned into what was called the Range Wars. The Cowboys would lead their cattle onto trails going through farmer territory.

  The railroad connected the US in a new way. The railroad represented the North-West passage because there never was a North-West passage. The railroad didn’t just provide a new start for Homesteaders and Cowboys, it was also a new start for the US. The railroad also brought Cowboys who drove away Native Americans, and marked the end of Native American culture. The Railroad brought out the American character, an example of this is the Homesteaders and the cowboys.l they had so much courage, persistence and Independence. They went through the struggles to make a better life for themselves, or their families. The Rugged Individual is a picture of Self-Government and Independence.