The First Transcontinental Railroad :: American History

The First Transcontinental Railroad lacking(p) works citedMay God continue the unity of our country as this railway system unites the two great oceans of the world (Mayer 213). This famous quotation was chip at on the gold spike that connected the two fragments of the rootage continental railroad. It describes the significance of the railway to the rapidly growing United States. The continental railroad was of tremendous importance to the development of the Union because it opened the western term to increased settlement and represented the growing integration of the country. It stimulated cover between east and west, and transformed the dormant frontier into an essential dower of the Union.A very different situation existed in advance the completion of the transcontinental railroad. The western region of the United States was almost completely separated from the east. trip out between the two regions was agonizingly long and difficult, and transportation of goods was costly and inefficient. on that point were three main routes that could be taken to travel from the east to the west. The first was an expensive four-month sea voyage around the tip of Cape Horn. The act route was the particularly ch everyenging horseback journey through the malaria-infested swamps of the circle of Panama. The final option was to travel across the US mainland by wagon, which a strenuous and lengthy expedition. The settlement of the Oregon boundary dispute, the acquisition of Mexican territory, the discovery of gold in California, and the spirit of manifest destiny were mixed motives that inspired flock to undergo the journey across America. Many people soon believed that a transcontinental railroad would be enormously unspoiled to the country. The bitter feelings between the northward and South resulting from divergent economies, life styles, and opinions on the divisive issue of slavery needed to be resolved before attention could be concentrated on th e transcontinental railroad. By 1860, the North and South had developed two very different economies. The primarily rude South relied on its chief crop, cotton, which accounted for a good deal of US exports. To produce cotton in such large amounts, the South depended on the plantation system, and thus on slavery. The North however, was an industrial giant and had no desire for slave labor. The South avoided industrialization and imported nearly all manufactured goods. Therefore, they vehemently opposed high tariffs.