What challenges did building the transcontinental railroad create?
What challenges did building the transcontinental railroad create? Another challenge they faced was the need to create tunnels through the mountains. Using nitroglycerin, they had to blast through the mountains in a very dangerous manner. On average, they were only able to get through 1 foot of mountain at a time. In the end, 11 tunnels were completed.
Was the building of the Transcontinental Railroad good or bad for the nation?
Good and bad The railroad is credited, for instance, with helping to open the West to migration and with expanding the American economy. It is blamed for the near eradication of the Native Americans of the Great Plains, the decimation of the buffalo and the exploitation of Chinese railroad workers.
What was the most important reason for building the transcontinental railroad?
Connecting the two American coasts made the economic export of Western resources to Eastern markets easier than ever before. The railroad also facilitated westward expansion, escalating conflicts between Native American tribes and settlers who now had easier access to new territories.
What were some positives and negatives of the transcontinental railroad being built?
Before the railroad, homesteaders would have to travel back via the Oregon Trail! The railroad also gave homesteaders greater access to manufactured goods, as they could be transported easily and quickly across the railway. However, the Transcontinental Railroad had a negative impact on the Plains Indians.
What factors led to railroads losing their status?
Passengers were electing more and more to travel by car or bus; freight shippers were increasingly choosing trucks for short- or long-haul jobs. Trucks, buses and cars could take flexible travel routes from point to point; railroads could not. For 20 years the railroads' situation worsened.
Was it hard to build the transcontinental railroad?
The work was tiresome, as the railroad was built entirely by manual laborers who used to shovel 20 pounds of rock over 400 times a day. They had to face dangerous work conditions – accidental explosions, snow and rock avalanches, which killed hundreds of workers, not to mention frigid weather.
What was the biggest obstacle in building the transcontinental railroad?
Answer and Explanation: For the US government and the railroad companies, the biggest obstacles in building the Transcontinental Railroad were mountains of solid granite and attacks by Native American war parties.
What were some of the challenges during the construction of the transcontinental railroad that many migrant workers had to endure?
At first railroad companies were reluctant to hire Chinese workers, but the immigrants soon proved to be vital. They toiled through back-breaking labor during both frigid winters and blazing summers. Hundreds died from explosions, landslides, accidents and disease.
What were the 4 effects of railroad construction?
The railroad opened the way for the settlement of the West, provided new economic opportunities, stimulated the development of town and communities, and generally tied the country together.
What natural obstacles slowed the building of the transcontinental railroad?
The Sierra Nevada, the 400-mile-long range of granite peaks that form the backbone of California, was the most formidable obstacle in the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. The only way past them was through. But in the mid-1860s, an era without dynamite or heavy machinery, the task seemed unsurmountable.
Was the Transcontinental Railroad good or bad?
Good and bad The railroad is credited, for instance, with helping to open the West to migration and with expanding the American economy. It is blamed for the near eradication of the Native Americans of the Great Plains, the decimation of the buffalo and the exploitation of Chinese railroad workers.
How did the Transcontinental Railroad affect immigrants?
For immigrants to the United States, the Transcontinental Railroad presented an opportunity to seek their fortunes in the West. There, they found more opportunity than the port cities of the East Coast, where discrimination kept immigrants living in urban squalor.
Why was building the transcontinental railroad so difficult to build?
The job was not easy. Both railroads had to cross rugged terrain, desert and mountains and both had to deal with harsh weather. At times the greatest danger came from the Indian raids as the railroads intersected the Native Americans' land. The Indians attacked the crews in order to protect their homeland.
What were 3 negative impacts caused by the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad?
But there was also a dark side to the historic national project. The railroad was completed by the sweat and muscle of exploited labor, it wiped out populations of buffalo, which had been essential to Indigenous communities, and it extended over land that had been unlawfully seized from tribal nations.
What were the short term effects of the transcontinental railroad?
Effects of the Railroad The transcontinental railroad reduced the travel time between the East and West Coasts from as long as six months to under two weeks. It not only allowed more ease of movement for people but also for freight. As goods were distributed more quickly, demand increased and the U.S. economy expanded.