Building the Transcontinental Railroad

By baas

  • Connecting the United States

    Connecting the United States
    Asa Whitney proposes the vision of expanding the railroads and having them connect. The purpose of this was to connect the West with the East

  • Central Pacific

    Central Pacific
    The Central Pacific Railroad Corporation was awarded to lay tracks eastward from Sacramento. The Corporation was leaded by Leland Standfor, Collis P. Huntionton, Charles Crocker, and mark Hopkins.

  • Union Pacific

    Union Pacific
    The Union Pacific was awarded to lay the rail road tracks. They started at Omaha, Nebraska.

  • Chinese to California

    50,000 Chinese people moved to California. Ninty percent of the Chinese were young men.

  • First Spike

    First Spike
    The Union Pacific laid the first spike of the railroad. The first spike was laid in Omaha, Nebraska.

  • Laborors Threaten Strike

    Laborors Threaten Strike
    White laborers threatened to go on strike, against the Central Pacific. They demanding higher pay, they came back getting a little bit of a raise.

  • Chinese Hired

    Chinese Hired
    Central Pacific hired 50 Chinese workers. They hired them to show the White laborers that they did not really need them.

  • The "Homeric Winter"

    The "Homeric Winter"
    During the "Homeric Winter" there were forty feet of snow, creating eighty foot drifts. This amount of snow meant that the companies had to spend most of the time shoveling snow.

  • More Chinese Workers

    More Chinese Workers
    Charlie Crocker, a executive of Central Pacific, said that they should hire more Chinese workers. They had half a million Chinese people come over from China.

  • Bankruptcy for Central Pacific

    Bankruptcy for Central Pacific
    The Central Pacific faced bankruptcy. During this period of time 2,000 Chinese workeers walked off the job.

  • Burlingame Treaty

    Burlingame Treaty
    China and the United States government signed the Burlingame Treaty. The treaty said that the citizens from China in the United States had certain rights.

  • The race to finish

    The race to finish
    The Central Pacific and the Union Pacific wanted to see who could lay the railroad faster. The Cental Pacific laid it the fastest.

  • The Last Spike

    The Last Spike
    The two railroads met at Promontory Point, Utah. The Central Pacific had went six hundred and ninty miles. The Union Pacific had went one thousand eighty six miles.