I think that the federal government had good reasons for wanting to build a transcontinental railroad. The railroad served many purposes and helped many people greatly. One of the government's reasons was that they wanted more people to move into America because that would help develop our economy. They knew that it was going to cost much less because they had Chinese immigrants working for very low wages. Not only was this railroad convenient. I think that it was also very beneficial. Many traders benefitted from this investment. They saved so much money and time by taking this railroad instead of having to use other transportation. This also granted many jobs. Many union and confederate soldiers made their income from working on this project. A handy thing that it did was wipe out the natives. That is something that the government really wanted. I think that it was a good idea to send people into the natives territories and force them out.
I think that the reason for the question, Arjun basically named everything. I'll restate some things in my own words though. The railroad/train transported a lot of things that other types of transportations couldn't bring to other places such as cargo, food, and even people. The train was a very fast way to get from one place to another for people. So not only did the train make transporting things and people a lot easier, but it helped create a lot of jobs too. During the building process, they had a lot of Chinese, and other religion, immigrants help create the railroad. Also, other jobs created by the train were job such as driving the train, loading and unloading the train, and making sure the train was safe an okay to run. So in conclusion, i think the federal government wanted to build this railroad/train for reasons such as making more jobs and it was an easier way to transport things to and from different places.
sources: textbook my head Arjun
Reply
Jessica Reed
1/24/2010 12:16:21 am
I agree with both Molly and Arjun on why the government would want to build a transcontinental railroad. So, to avoid reiterating what they said, I will tell about what the government went through before the building of the railroad started. First, in the 1850’s a series of topographical surveys were made to decide what route the railroad would be on. During this time there was much controversy as to which route would be taken. Yet, in 1862, the Republican-filled Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Act. This act allowed a transcontinental railroad to be built to connect the east and west coasts. After the route was chosen, land grants were given to start building. Furthermore, Congress authorized two railroad companies, the Union Pacific and Central Pacific. A year later in 1863, the building of the railroad started.
I think the government was right to build the transcontinental railroad. I say this because the railroad benefited America and Americans greatly. On the other hand, Native Americans weren’t included in this success. They were forced out of their home land and put into reservations. Even though I agree with the government’s decisions to build the railroad, I don’t agree with their decision to take away the Native America’s land.
I agreee with both Molly and Jessica that the railroad was very important transportation. I also agree that this railroad was very beneficial to the people of America. Normal transportation was way too expensive back then and this railroad was so much more affordable. At this time many people despeately wanted to go to California to get a lot of gold. If I was a prospector I would not have gone at all if not for the transcontinental railroad. As I mentioned before building the railroad was not much of a problem because there was cheap foreign labor. The transcontinental railroad took people all across America. Many people used this railroad and the American government made a fortune. It also gave the immigrants a job which is a plus factor of America. If immigrants came to America they would be able to make money by working on the railroad. Many immigrants flocked to America for this opportunity. Overall, I think that the transcontinental railroad was a win-win-win-win situation.
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