How did the transcontinental railroad Connect America?
In addition to transporting western food crops and raw materials to East Coast markets and manufactured goods from East Coast cities to the West Coast, the railroad also facilitated international trade. The first freight train to travel eastward from California carried a load of Japanese tea.
Where did the transcontinental railroad connect?
The Railroad Act of 1862 put government support behind the transcontinental railroad and helped create the Union Pacific Railroad, which subsequently joined with the Central Pacific at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869, and signaled the linking of the continent.
What two states did the transcontinental railroad connect?
Spreckels completed his privately funded San Diego and Arizona Railway in 1919, thereby creating a direct link (via connection with the Southern Pacific lines) between San Diego, California and the Eastern United States.
How were the Chinese treated during the CPR?
As well as being paid less, Chinese workers were given the most dangerous tasks, such as handling the explosive nitroglycerin used to break up solid rock. Due to the harsh conditions they faced, hundreds of Chinese Canadians working on the railway died from accidents, winter cold, illness and malnutrition.
What was the biggest problem faced by the CPR in 1883?
The CPR may have placed too much reliance on a report from naturalist John Macoun, who had crossed the prairies at a time of very high rainfall and had reported that the area was fertile. The greatest disadvantage of the route was in Kicking Horse Pass, at the Alberta-British Columbia border on the continental divide.
Why did the Chinese workers come to work on the CPR?
Chinese immigrants were originally considered an expendable source of cheap labor due to their economic depression and acceptance of death from Canadian employers. Between 1880 and 1885, the primary work for Chinese laborers in Canada was on the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR).