The Muscle that Built the Rail Comprehension Questions

Assess the importance of the transcontinental railroad. Why was it important? How did it change the country?

Because people can travel and ship things. It's important because people can go anywhere. Businesses people could ship their products.

Explain why Native Americans were angered by the transcontinental railroad.

Cheyenne or Sioux warriors, angered by the railroad's trespass across their prime hunting grounds.

Explain how the railroads were funded.

Funded by huge government loans and land giveaways.

Using the map of the railroad located in the article, identify the body of water that is located near where the Union Pacific and Central Pacific met.

Great Salt Lake

Describe President Abraham Lincoln's involvement in the transcontinental railroad.

Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act into law in 1862.

Identify the places where the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroads began there construction. Where did the two railroads meet?

Sacramento, Nevada, Great Salt Lake, Colorado and Omaha

The map shows that the Union Pacific Railroad was able to lay more miles of track than the Central Pacific Railroad. Why do you think that is?

They were able to lame more miles because they were dealing with flatter land.

Why did the government play such a large role in the building of the transcontinental railroad?

Together, the railroads and federal government devised a funding scheme-promoted.

What groups provided labor for the railroads construction? Describe the role of Chinese and Irish workers in the railroads construction.

Union and Confederate veterans, Mexican-American freedmen, and recent immigrants-especially the Irish swelled construction crews. The Chinese workers quickly won Strobridge's admiration, then dominated his crews. By year's end, more than 7,000 Chinese were picking and blasting the railroad's way through the rugged Sierra Nevada.

Describe at least three obstacles/challenges faced by railroad workers.

Workers would have to blast through mountain ranges and lay track across broad deserts. Fend off attacks by Native Americans and endure brutal winters.