As you read this page, Listen to Daybreak Express by Duke Ellington & His Orchestra (1933)

Topics on the Page

Summary of the Building of the Railroad

 
Primary Sources

 
Video Resources

 
Chinese Railway Workers

 
Native Americans

 
African Americans

 
Picture Book Text Set about the Transcontinental Railroad

   Cross-Links

AP US History Key Concept 5.1:  Immigration, Migration and National Expansion

Chinese Immigration to the United States 

Summary of the Building of the Railroad

For background information, link to Building the Transcontinental Railroad from Digital History

• Link also the A Brief History of the Pacific Railroad from Linda Hall Library

The development of railroads was one of the most important outcomes of the Industrial Revolution.

• The Transcontinental Railroad linked the country. Not only did the railroad transport people, but it also transported a variety of goods, allowing for new markets and resources as well for manifest destiny.

• The railroad was built by the Union Pacific and Central Pacific companies.
• For each mile of track these companies completed, they were rewarded with 640 acres of public land.
• Overall, railroad companies were given about 200 million square acres of land.

• The railroad directors, such as Cornelius Vanderbilt, made their fortunes building the transcontinental railroad.
• They furthered their fortunes by accepting money from public officials and by charging various shipping rates.

Click on Binding the Nation by Rail for more information on the Transcontinental Railroad.

Engraved cover illustrations from 1881 Timetable and Map

For an interactive timeline and map on the race to Utah by the Union Pacific and Central Pacific, visit PBS: Race to Utah!.


See also The Story of the First American Transcontinental Railroad from the Union Pacific Railroad Museum


Driving the Last Spike from the Virtual Museum of the City of San Francisco provides an informative overview of figures, like Leland Stanford, responsible for the completion of the transcontinental railroad.

History.com series America: The Story of Us episode aboutThe Transcontinental Railroad shows how the railroad unites the nation and transforms the Heartland and touches upon the decline of Native American civilizations as farmers settle the continent

Primary Sources

The Driving of the Last Spike, painting by Thomas Hill, 1881

• Railroad Posters and Ads

• Dot, Dot, Dot. . . Done--Golden Spike. Historical Photographs from Promontory Point, 1869

• General Sherman's Order for Military Protection of Trains, 1867

• Pacific Railway Act, July 1, 1862

• A Practical Plan for Building the Pacific Railroad, T.D.Judah, 1857

• Asa Whitney Proposal to Congress, 1848

Excerpt from Diary of Railroad Construction Engineer, 1868

Picture shows the Train That Carried Leland Stanford to the Golden Spike Ceremony.

Stanford Watches from the Hill Above


 Video Resources

Transcontinental Railroad from BBC. This is the first of five parts; the other parts are also available on YouTube.

The Transcontinental Railroad: Uniting the States of America, the third place student entry in the 2010 National History Day competition
from the perspective of a young girl whose father was a Chinese laborer.

See multimedia materials from the Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project from Stanford University.

The following materials provide a complimentary source to the Stanford's Railroad Project The First Transcontinental Railroad - Spotlight at Stanford

Building the Union Pacific from Wyoming Tales and Trails

Click here for a youtube clip showing the expansion of the railroads from 1830 to the 1990s

Chinese Railway Workers

Timeline: Chinese Railroad Workers in North America Project, Stanford University

"Chinese Laborers at Work": Harper's Weekly, Vol. 11, 1867

• See also Chinese Workers Contributions to Transcontinental Railroad

• Chinese Laborers in the West from the Smithsonian.

• See also Courage, Determination Forged Foundation for Chinese-American Laborfrom Labor History Articles, American Postal Workers Union.

• Check out this primary source that describes the work ethic of the Chinese Railway Workers The Six Chinese Companies 

The Big Fill in Golden Spike Historical Site

How Chinese Immigrants Helped Build US Railroads:

• Chinese immigrants were absolutely crucial in industrializing and connecting the eastern part of America with the west.

• Prior to the civil war the US had gained a lot of western territory.

• It was the goal of businessmen and civilians alike to better connect the west with the already industrialized east. 

• The best way to do this was through the use of a trans-confidential railroad.

• Prior to a railroad if people or goods were hoping to travel from the eastern US to the west then they had two options; They could travel by wagon or they could take a boat around the southern tip of the Americas to reach the west.

• Both trips were long and dangerous so an easier alternative such as the railroad was chosen.

• Those creating the railroads needed cheap reliable laborers in order to take on the massive endeavor.

• Chinese immigrants had flocked to the US for better economic opportunities one of which being the gold rush which was extremely tantalizing to immigrants.

• When the work on the railroad started the immigrants who had not struck it rich yet joined the workforce.

• Overall the railroad in the west was built primarily by Chinese immigrants.

• They faced awful treatment, conditions and pay yet they were instrumental in creating the railroad and connecting the country.

• They received less pay, no free shelter and bad meals while their white co workers received better pay, free shelter and meals.

• They also faced countless acts of racism and many died due to the harsh conditions. 

Here is a link to a video about the contributions and lives of Chinese immigrant railroad workers.

“Cheyenne Indians tearing up the tracks of the Union Pacific R.R.”

Courtesy of the Utah State Historical Society via the Mountain West Digital Library

Native Americans and the Railroad

Native Americans and the Transcontinental Railroad, PBS American Experience

Native Americans: Building the First Transcontinental Railroad, Digital Public Library of America

Native Americans and the Transcontinental Railroad from Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History

Reports from the End of the Track from PBS reports on conflicts with Native peoples as the railroads moved west.

Native Americans and the Railroad, YouTube

African Americans

"They Also Worked in Large Numbers on the Railroad," Panel 38 from Jacob Lawrence, The Migration of the Negro.

Picture Book Text Set about the Transcontinental Railroad

For information on Chinese immigration and the laws regarding Chinese exclusion acts, visit the US Department of State Milestones: 1866-1898

• Coolies by Yin

• Iron Horses by Verla Kay

• Ten Mile Day and the Building of the Transcontinental Railroad by Mary Ann Fraser

• The Great Railroad Race: The Diary of Libby West, Utah Territory 1868