Why was building the transcontinental railroad so difficult to build?
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.
Who did most of the hard labor making the Transcontinental Railroad?
Chinese workers made up most of the workforce between roughly 700 miles of train tracks between Sacramento, California, and Promontory, Utah. During the 19th century, more than 2.5 million Chinese citizens left their country and were hired in 1864 after a labor shortage threatened the railroad's completion.
What was the hardest part of 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 are two disadvantages 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.
Why were construction workers on the Transcontinental Railroad in danger?
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.
How long did it take to build the transcontinental railroad?
The transcontinental railroad was built in six years almost entirely by hand. Workers drove spikes into mountains, filled the holes with black powder, and blasted through the rock inch by inch. Handcarts moved the drift from cuts to fills.
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 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.
What was one consequence of the construction of the transcontinental railroad?
Within ten years of its completion, the railroad shipped $50 million worth of freight coast to coast every year. Just as it opened the markets of the west coast and Asia to the east, it brought products of eastern industry to the growing populace beyond the Mississippi.
How much were workers paid on the transcontinental railroad?
The railroad workers were paid, on average, a dollar a day. They lived in twenty railroad cars, including dormitories and an arsenal car containing a thousand loaded rifles. They worked hard and were usually able to lay from one to three miles of track per day depending upon the available materials.
How was the transcontinental railroad negative?
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 biggest problem for the Central Pacific Railroad?
There were major challenges to the building of the Transcontinental Railroad for both companies. The Central Pacific's main problem was the Serra Nevada mountains. It took three years to build a railway through the mountain. They used dynamite to blast through the rock.
What are 5 facts about the transcontinental railroad?
- It was built to connect the United States' East and West Coasts. ...
- Approximately 1,800 miles of track. ...
- The transcontinental railroad cost roughly $100 million. ...
- Workers came from a wide range of backgrounds and ethnicity. ...
- President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act.
What ethnic group built the railroads?
Teachers should understand that most of the people who worked to build the transcontinental railroad were immigrants from China and Ireland. These immigrants faced discrimination in the U.S., but their labor made this national achievement possible.