The First Transcontinental Railroad
Exam Questions And Answers.
What did the transcontinental railroad do? - Answer Grew West Coast; Gold and silver;
Connected east and west for business; Solidify union; Achieve Manifest Destiny
What did they have to do first? - Answer They had to choose a route; Congress surveyed land
in 1853; Free states wouldn't approve funds that would spread slavery - North won when South
seceded
What was the problems while trying to conquer the Sierra Nevada? - Answer Giant, rocky,
snowy obstacle for beginners
What did they need to build the transcontinental railroad? - Answer Gov't support;
Cooperation, money, and land; Gov't was on board but occupied by civil war
Who paid? - Answer Independent parties; Big 4; Durant; Ames brothers
Who made it possible? - Answer Theodore Judah and Grenville dodge - they understood the
benefits and devoted their lives to this
What was the pacific railway act? - Answer July 1st, 1862; Created Union Pacific to build road
from East and meet Central Pacific; Provided companies 5 alternating plots of land on each side
of road for each mile along the route; 16,000 for each mile of flat land, 32,000 for hills, 48,000
for mountain terrain; Revised in 1864 to give companies more land
What was the plan? - Answer Central Pacific Railroad - Start in Sacramento, CA, broke ground
in January 1863; Union Pacific Railroad - Start in Omaha, NE, broke ground in late 1863 but
tracks laid in 1865; Route along 42nd parallel; Meeting place - Promontory summit, UT
Why was the railroad so important? - Answer Biggest and best project of its time; Made
country "smaller"; Help spur interest in homestead act; Improved communication; Beginning of
end for Native Americans; Led to other transcontinental railroads and shorter branches
Exam Questions And Answers.
What did the transcontinental railroad do? - Answer Grew West Coast; Gold and silver;
Connected east and west for business; Solidify union; Achieve Manifest Destiny
What did they have to do first? - Answer They had to choose a route; Congress surveyed land
in 1853; Free states wouldn't approve funds that would spread slavery - North won when South
seceded
What was the problems while trying to conquer the Sierra Nevada? - Answer Giant, rocky,
snowy obstacle for beginners
What did they need to build the transcontinental railroad? - Answer Gov't support;
Cooperation, money, and land; Gov't was on board but occupied by civil war
Who paid? - Answer Independent parties; Big 4; Durant; Ames brothers
Who made it possible? - Answer Theodore Judah and Grenville dodge - they understood the
benefits and devoted their lives to this
What was the pacific railway act? - Answer July 1st, 1862; Created Union Pacific to build road
from East and meet Central Pacific; Provided companies 5 alternating plots of land on each side
of road for each mile along the route; 16,000 for each mile of flat land, 32,000 for hills, 48,000
for mountain terrain; Revised in 1864 to give companies more land
What was the plan? - Answer Central Pacific Railroad - Start in Sacramento, CA, broke ground
in January 1863; Union Pacific Railroad - Start in Omaha, NE, broke ground in late 1863 but
tracks laid in 1865; Route along 42nd parallel; Meeting place - Promontory summit, UT
Why was the railroad so important? - Answer Biggest and best project of its time; Made
country "smaller"; Help spur interest in homestead act; Improved communication; Beginning of
end for Native Americans; Led to other transcontinental railroads and shorter branches
