The Transcontinental Railroad

The United States has always believed in manifest destiny, A term coined by John O’Sullivan. the belief that the expansion westward was both inevitable and justified the purchase of the Louisiana territory by Thomas Jefferson from the French in 1803 was a major deal that could not be ignored. Imperialism is enlarging a nation's authority over weaker countries using economic, or military promise. While not being exactly the same it is evident that westward expansion and imperialism are very similar with the United States expanding vastly in a range of imperial ways such as supplementing help from the U.S. military, and legal organizations into the gained territories and colonize them with nonnatives.

First, the building of railroads out west played a huge part in the successful expansion of our country and the fulfillment of American dreams. Priot to the development of a more efficient railroad system, the movement of people and freight were

Inventions like the iPhone have paved the road for social, economical, and political improvements. It allowed many opportunities for people to capitalize on whether it be economically like amazon, or socially like youtube as did the railroad that connected the states together. The transcontinental railroad most impacted America economically through encouraging imports and exports amongst the states, making transportation cheaper, and opening up cities along the railroad itself.

After the United States acquired so much more territory, the push for expansion accelerated and spurred development of an American transcontinental railroad line. The California Gold Rush of 1848 fanned the flames of westward exploration and settlement. One of the biggest challenges was finding the most suitable route.

Migration was also an important fact that heled the expansion. The migration to the west improved transportation means since people needed to move in and out of the new territories. By 1848, the demand rose after America acquired California after the Mexican War ended. Discovery of gold in that state also led to need for increased transportation. With the increased railroads expansion, migration was made easier, which in turn, gave way to acquiring of more laborers to work in the mines (Williams 1964, 102-106).

To start, I will explain the purpose of the Transcontinental railroad. In Source #1”Full Steam Ahead The Transcontinental Railroad”, it says “People had been asking for coast-to-coast rail travel for decades. Since the invention of the locomotive in 1825, companies had built many rail lines. These railroads connected eastern cities and seaports,splashing travel times and helping these areas grow. Crossing the country, however was much more difficult. People and trade goods traveled by horse, stagecoach, or wagon train. The trip took months. Not many made the journey.” So the government during the time thought that building a railroad, would help businesses “ sprout up like corn.” According to Source #1 it also says “ Two companies immediately got to work. Railroads already existed that stretched from the East of Omaha, Nebraska. Now, the Union Pacific Railroad began extending the tracks from Omaha out to the West. The Central Pacific Railroad began in Sacramento,California and laid tracks out East. Eventually, the two companies would meet in Promontory, Utah. So, basically the purpose of the railroad was to get people and goods from coast-to-coast.

Gold rush is one of the significant event in the history. In this project, I will introduce what was the major effects of gold rush in the California. And how did that changed the people, economic, political and environmental effects. The Gold Rush is a rapid movement of people to a newly discovered goldfield. Gold rush was arguably one of the most significant events to build American history during the first half of the 19th century. Thousands of gold miners traveled by the sea and over the land of San Francisco and the surrounding area. In January 1848, James Wilson Marshall discovered gold along the American River. By the time, the fountain of the gold was loaded on newspaper, but it didn’t become a big event, most of people just did not really believe the account of gold. The Gold rush occurred in May 1848. A storekeeper in Sutter’s cheek who is called Sam Brannan showed a bottle filled with gold dust and shouted that he found a piece of gold from American River. So the residents of the city got a proof of the discovery of gold. People who heard about the gold discovery started to gather in San Francisco’s harbor. This is the beginning of the gold rush. By the time, gold mining was a one of tough profession. Although most people didn’t make much money, a few prospectors got fabulously rich. Also, Gold rush made a lot of Ghost Town. People rushed to the town when gold was discovered, but when the mining dried

The great numbers of settlers moving west due to gold helped create hundreds of new villages, with many becoming large metropolitan and economic centers such as San Francisco, Sacramento, San Jose, and Fresno. The gold quickly turned many of these villages into cities that became extremely important to the American economy. The discovery of the gold came only nine days before the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, also making this treaty one of the most economically significant treaties in American history. In addition, the United States Transcontinental Railroad was built largely on gold money to connect the barren west to the rest of the country, and it ran through Sacramento and San Francisco as soon as 1863. Now, travel that used to take months to complete could be done in days, only further stimulating the growing American economy during the industrial revolution. American production and manufacturing in many different aspects skyrocketed and helped meet the rising necessary national supply and demand. The quick settlement of the west also reinforced the idea of Manifest Destiny and made beneficial use of the territory that the United States acquired in the Mexican-American war. In addition to domestic improvements, the gold rush also benefited the economy on a global stage, as fast-growing cities in the west created new markets for food, goods, and other materials. The west would receive imports from South America, Britain, China, and many more nations in exchange for their precious gold. The California Gold Rush quickly became one of the most influential economic movements in American history as it further advanced the nation’s standing on both a domestic and international

The gold rush played a major part in the westward expansion. The gold rush is where millions of people came from all over the world. The gold rush started in 1848 and ended in 1852.

The Gold Rush had an enormous impact on immigration globally, as it brought people from all over the people. People from countries such as China, Mexico, France and other parts of Europe came to California in hopes of finding gold and living a happy life. Not only did the presence of immigrants help the cities grow physically, the immigrants who came from across the globe helped the cities grow culturally and economically. These immigrants brought with them their own language, culture, and beliefs. They helped make California very rich and diverse in culture.

The California Gold Rush of 1849 was a very influential event in U.S history. It all started in 1848, in Coloma, California, when a man named James Marshall (See Appendix A) was working on a sawmill for a man named John Sutter (See Appendix B). He was working near a river and something caught his eye. When he went to investigate, he realized that he had discovered pure gold! Marshall wanted to keep this a secret between him and his boss, but word spread quickly, and eventually the whole world knew about this discovery thanks to the New York Herald, which was the first newspaper to publish an article about the Gold Rush. Soon enough, many people started to immigrate to California to see if they could start a new life, and maybe, get rich. While the Gold Rush had many positive impacts to the State of California, which included economic benefits, they were not necessarily as a result of the mining of gold, but opportunities created by the influx of people looking to get rich. The economic opportunities experienced in the State of California as a result of the gold rush included manufacturing, trade, merchant business, agriculture, entertainment market, and newly formed banks and financial institutions (“The Impact of Gold” 2014). Also, people from different countries like China came by ship to see if they could strike it rich. People living on the Eastern side of the U.S only had two routes that they could follow to California, and both took many months and portrayed terrible

The Gold Rush in California resulted in Chinese coming to America in search of wealth, a buildup of resentment by Americans, the passing of the Chinese Exclusion Act.

The American West boom started during the Civil War. While there was exploration and early settlers in the West, the biggest impact came from the Civil War. Furthermore, the government giving land for railroad development had its own set of consequences. Not to mention the Homestead Act of 1862.

The gold rush altered the course of America not only socially but also physically, the land was drastically changed once the placers gave out and hydraulic mining came into play. Hydraulic mining washed mountains into

The discovery of the California Gold Rush took place by chance. Mainly the amount of the world’s gold is deep underground and embedded in hard rock. Unlike anywhere else in the world at that time the gold in California was simple to dig up, free for the taking and required little tools to acquire any gold. Only things required: a pick or shovel and a pan to shift out the gold from the rock, sand and debris. The Gold Rush affected not only California, but the outcome of the nation. Creating the expansion of our nation into Western America and California. Hundreds of thousand Americans and foreigners moved toward the Sierra Nevada’s, with the hopes of sticking it rich. Which impacted the social life and the economy, while effected the rest of the country. Producing a number of diverse people seeking to make a fortune, influenced California and the American life.