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Asa Whitney
Asa Whitney presented a plan to congress to buold a railroad from the Mississippi River to the Pacific. -
Period: to
Transcontinental Railroad
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Oregon Boundary
Oregon Boundary is settled. -
Mexico
Western territories aquired from Mexico. -
Gold Rush
Discovery of gold in california. -
Railroad
Congress got funds to survey various routes for the railroads. -
Kansas-Nebraska Act
Senator Stephen Douglas introduced it, intending to get approval for a line from Chicago, however the sectional controversary between the North and South delayed it. -
Construction
Republican-controlled Congress allowed the contruction of the transcontinental line. It stated two companies must build the line. Both companies received federal land grants of 10 alternate sections per mile on both sides of the line and a 30-year government loan for each mile of track that was constructed. -
Construction
The Union Pacific RR began it's construction in Omaha, Nebraska, and while the Central Pacific broke ground at Sacremento California. -
End of Construction
The railroad is completed in Promontory Summit, Utah with a golden spike joining the two railroads. -
More railroads
Three more railroads were finished in 1883: Lake Supior to Portland Oregon, Atchison, Kansas to Los Angeles, California, and Las Angeles to New Orleans, Louisianna. -
Great Northern
The Fifth railroad, The Great Northern, was finished in 1893.
Each of the companies that bult the railroads received many grants for land. The land was shoddy and was repaired later. Not to mention the frequent scandals. But the railroad aided in settling the west greatly and brought rapid growth to the economy.
