Chapter 3 Lesson 2 U.S. History Notes - 9/11/16

The Union Pacific laid a total of...?

1,086 miles of track

The railroad boom began in....?

1862 with the Pacific Railway Act

In how many years did workers finish the transcontinental railroad?

4 years

The Central Pacific, starting from the west, laid a total of...?

688 miles of track

Who was Grenville Dodge?

A former Union general who worked as an engineer for the Union Pacific.

Who did the Central Pacific Railroad employ?

About 10,000 workers from China

Who was Theodore Judah?

An engineer for the Central Pacific Railroad.

How did the railways deal with the time variations that caused scheduling errors and accidents?

By dividing the country into time zones

How did railroads spur economic growth and create new markets for products after the Civil War?

By linking the nation together

How did the transcontinental railroad help the economy?

By linking the nation, railroads increased the markets for many products, spurring industrial growth. Railroad companies also stimulated the economy by spending huge amounts of money on steel, coal, timber, and other materials.

How did most railroads raise the money to construct new rails?

By selling federal land grants to settlers and real estate firms

The railroad workers of the Union Pacific included?

Civil War veterans, newly recruited Irish immigrants, frustrated miners and farmers, cooks, adventurers, and ex-convicts. (Employed about 10,000 people)

Describe the Crédit Mobilier scandal of 1872.

Crédit Mobilier was a construction company set up by several stockholders of the Union Pacific Railroad, including Oakes Ames, a member of Congress. To convince Congress to give the railroad more grants, Ames sold other members of Congress shares at a price well below their market value. During the election campaign of 1872, a letter appeared in the New York Sun listing members of Congress who bought shares. The Crédit Mobilier scandal produced widespread anger and led to the impression that railroad entrepreneurs were "robber barons"—people who loot an industry and become rich unethically.

Who was James J. Hill?

Hill built the Great Northern Railroad from Wisconsin and Minnesota to Washington state without any federal land grants or subsidies.

How was James Hill's Great Northern Railroad different from that of other railroad tycoons?

Hill invested honestly and used strategic planning to become successful.

What happened on May 10, 1869?

Hundreds of spectators gathered at Promontory Summit, Utah to watch dignitaries hammer five gold and silver spikes into the final rails that would join the Union Pacific and Central Pacific

How did the Pacific Railway Act contribute to the railroad boom?

It provided for the construction of a transcontinental railway system.

Who is the most famous "robber baron"?

Jay Gould

Who was the most notoriously corrupt robber baron?

Jay Gould

Theodore Judah sold stock in his fledgling Central Pacific Railroad Company to...?

Leland Stanford, Charley Crocker, Mark Hopkins, and Collis P. Huntington (the "Big Four")

In the Crédit Mobilier scandal, Union Pacific investors got rich by?

Paying inflated bills from a construction company that they controlled.

What were "robber barons"?

Railroad entrepreneurs who built their fortunes by swindling investors and taxpayers, bribing officials, and cheating on their contracts and debts.

What railroad began pushing westward from Omaha, Nebraska, in 1865?

The Union Pacific Railroad

The Pacific Railway Act gave what two corporations permission to build a transcontinental railroad?

The Union Pacific and the Central Pacific

Describe some of the good points of the Great Northern Railroad.

The railroad's route passed by existing towns in the region and offered low fares to settlers who homesteaded along his route. He also identified products that were in demand in China, including cotton, textiles, and flour, and hauled those goods to Washington to ship to Asia. This way, his railroad efficiently hauled goods both east and west, instead of simply sending goods east and coming back empty like other railroads. The Great Northern became the most successful transcontinental railroad and one of the few railroads of the time that was not eventually forced into bankruptcy.

How did the Central Pacific Railroad deal with the shortage of labor in California?

They hired a large number of Chinese immigrants.

What happened to the many small, unconnected railways after the Civil War?

They were consolidated and connected by larger companies.

How did the railroads help close the American frontier?

To convince people to move west, railroads and real estate companies offered the land at low prices and provided credit to settlers. Pamphlets, posters, and newspaper advertisements enticed people to move west. The building of the railroads themselves offered further encouragement, as settlers no longer had to migrate the entire distance on their own. They could take the train to a location near the land they bought

How did railroad companies raise money to build their railroads?

To encourage railroad construction across the Great Plains, the federal government gave land grants to many railroad companies. The railroads then sold the land to settlers, real estate companies, and other businesses to raise money to build the railroad.

What two railway companies attempted to construct railways through the Western territories?

the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific