Before i say the changes, i'd like to state what the transcontinental railroad actually was. The transcontinental railroad is the railroad that spanned the US continent. It was originally named the Pacific Railroad and later was changed to the Overland Route. Years ago, Americans wanted to make this railroad to connect the Pacific and Atlantic coasts. The companies given responsibility to make it started in two different spots, Sacramento, California and Omaha, Nebraska. The workers chosen to help build the railroad all were from different backgrounds. Most were immigrants with no other many choices of work. The railroad finally finished in 1895.
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Molly Buring
1/20/2010 05:13:56 am
One major change that the transcontinental railroad changed in America, was how to calculate the time. At first, each community determined their own time using "solar time". "Solar time" used the calculations of the sun's travels, so the time was different all across the country. This caused a lot of problems for the train drivers because they didn't know if the time they were arriving was their time, or the arriving place's time. Because of that, they set up "standard times". That split up the country into four different time zones.
Another change that the railroad brought us., was that because of the railroad, a lot more settlers settled into the west. The part of the west that they settled in was called the "frontier". It was the parts of the west occupied mainly by Native Americans. The trains that used the railroad brought in many necessities for the people who lived there. It brought food, lumber, and even more people. The trains also carried other things from and to different places as well. From the west, they brought lumber, livestock, and grain towards the east, normally processed in cities such as Chicago. From the east, they brought manufactured goods. Those were mostly sold to to westerners.
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amk
5/7/2013 10:07:20 am
are there any other reasons???
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Molly Buring
1/20/2010 05:15:32 am
my sources for both of those were the textbook
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Jessica Reed
1/20/2010 05:16:16 am
The transcontinental railroad changed America in many ways both good and bad. The railroad was good because it greatly benefited America economically. Once the railroad was completed, trade across the country was possible. The railroad also helped America by providing jobs to many. Thirdly, standard time and the expansion of the frontier were a result of the transcontinental railroad.
On the other hand, the transcontinental railroad also had some drawbacks. First, all the people who worked on the railroad had their lives greatly at risk. Furthermore, the Native Americans of the West lost their land to newcomers that used the railroad. This most likely made the Native Americans very upset. Yet, despite some of these drawbacks the railroad had, it truly transformed America.
My opinion of the railroad is that it really helped America. Besides, the risk of lives and the loss of Native American land, I think the transcontinental railroad was the start of new innovations that would come in the 20th century.
I think that the innovation of the transcontinental railroad is one of America's greatest technological advancements. It is certainly up there with landing men on the moon and the atom bomb. After the civil war many soldiers were out of jobs. They made their living by helping build a railroad. Also many immigrants, especially from China, made money building these railroads. It also helped America's trade greatly. Before this there was not much trade going on. People knew that transporting themselves to other places was very expensive and trade was therefore discouraged. With this trade picked up drastically helping our economy. The big drawback was that many Native Americans were forced to leave there homes. For the Americans that was a good thing but it is still not right. Overall I agree that this project was very beneficial to America. http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/database/article_display.cfm?HHID=177 http://www.tcrr.com/
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Arjun Rajesh
2/12/2010 10:08:55 pm
The transcontinental railroad changed America in many ways. I think that the economical benefit we tremendous. The trade rose dramatically after this innovation. Many Americans made lots of money from using this railroad. They also made money by riding to California to the gold rush. I think that this made a lot of money for Americans and helped them greatly. I agree that it was important for many people because they got jobs. Jobs were especially important after the civil war ended. There were many benefits to this railroad.
I agree that there are disadvantages to this railroad. As I said before this railroad displaced many native americans. While the USA governemnt thought this was a good thing they ran the risk of making an enemy of the natives. That is not a good idea.
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