For many years, railroads were popping up all over the United States. However, there was still no efficient way to make it from the east coast to the west coast. For one person to make it across the country, it cost $1,000. Compared to the value of the dollar today, that would cost us $28,500 dollars to make the trip!
In 1845, a transcontinental railroad had been proposed, but lobbying had failed to support the idea in Congress.
In 1861, Theodore Judah had formed the Central Pacific Railroad Company after identifying a great location to build a railroad; through the Sierra Nevada Mountains. |
On July 1, 1862, Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act. This finally provided federal funds for the creation of a transcontinental railroad.
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It was decided that the Union Pacific Railroad would begin on the east coast, and the Central Pacific Railroad Company would begin on the west.
The two lines of track would meet in the middle (the bill did not designate an exact location) and each company would receive 6,400 acres of land (later doubled to 12,800) and $48,000 in government bonds for every mile of track built. From the beginning, then, the building of the transcontinental railroad was set up in terms of a competition between the two companies. |
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History.com Staff. (2010). Transcontinental railroad. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/inventions/transcontinental-railroad
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History.com Staff. (2010). Transcontinental railroad. Retrieved from http://www.history.com/topics/inventions/transcontinental-railroad
In memoriam, theordore judah. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://cprr.org/Museum/Ephemera/Judah Memoriam BCC.html (Judah image)
Measuring worth. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.measuringworth.com/uscompare/relativevalue.php
Pacific railway act. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/ourdocs/PacificRail.html
The abraham lincoln papers. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=mal&fileName=mal1/281/2818400/malpage.db&recNum=0 (image of Lincoln's letter)