Transportation and Communication
As westward expansion increased the need for communication between the East and West increased. In 1860 the Pony Express was created. The Pony Express was a system of horseback messengers that carried mail between relay stations on a 2,000 mile long route. This system made communication between the East and the West easier. In 1860 the Pacific Railway Acts were passed in order to connect the East and West. Under these acts railway companies received grants of land and money. This land could be sold to pay for the cost of construction. These acts helped build a transcontinental railroad which helped improve the communication and travel between the East and the West.
Key People, Places, Legislation, and Challenges
In 1863 a race between two railroad companies, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific, began. The Central Pacific railroad company began building from Sacramento, California, while the Union Pacific began building in Omaha, Nebraska. This was known as the Great Race. The railroad workers faced geographic challenges including: crossing the Sierra Nevada range: an area of mountains that lay between the railroad workers and their destination (A large amount of explosives were brought in to blast through this range), and weather. During the winter, the biggest threat to the railroad workers' biggest threat were snowdrifts up to sixty feet high trapping and killing workers. Food was also a great challenge for the workers. Hunters were hired to kill animals to feed the rest of the railroad crew. One such man was known as William "Buffalo Bill" Cody was a hunter that killed thousands of buffalo to feed the railroad workers. Many immigrants were hired to make increase the progress of each companies railroad. Chinese workers were hired by the Central Pacific however they were given longer hours, more dangerous jobs, and were paid very little. In 1869 the two railroads connected in Promontory, Utah. This railroad connected the East and the West.
Effects of the Railroads
The railroads were a large factor in westward expansion. They were created to increase communication and travel between the East and the West and connect them. They greatly aided businesses by allowing goods to be shipped to other regions in a shorter period of time. The Western timber and mining companies shipped wood and metals to the Eastern region and in return Eastern factories shipped manufactured goods. Railroads also majorly decreased travel time compared to the time of a wagon or horseback. It created Railway Post Office cars that carried mail between the East and the West, increasing the communication between the two. However there were negative effects that the railroads caused. The collapse of Jay Cooke's (the owner of the railroad) banking firm aided the Panic of 1873. The Panic of 1873 was a severe economic downturn that put two million people out of work, and Democrats, known as Redeemers, began to take over the House of Representatives. Because of the depression that followed the Panic of 1873, many of the western railroads were in debt, though they continued to work on the railroads. By the 1890's the West had overcome these debts and the railroads were the biggest industry in the U.S.