Standard 11

The student will describe the growth of big business and

technological innovations after Reconstruction.

The Growth of the Railroad The growth of

railroads allowed for the growth of business.– The transportation of

goods became faster, cheaper, and more efficient.

Steel Andrew Carnegie was

the man who controlled almost all of the steel made.

Big business was able to use the rail system to quickly transport goods around the country and drive out competition.

Westward Expansion and Settlement

The construction of railways as far west as Kansas opened a booming market for beef and the requisite processing centers

This and other businesses led to increase migration to Western states.

The Transcontinental Railroad This was to be the first

railroad to stretch across the whole of the US.

The Central Pacific Railroad began laying track eastward out of Sacramento.

The Union Pacific Railroad began work toward the west in Omaha.

At Promontory Point, Utah on May 10, 1869, a golden spike was driven to officially connect the two railroads.

Immigrant Labor The Irish were

used to build the Union Pacific line across the Great Plains.

The Chinese were used to build the Central Pacific line across the Sierra Nevada.

Use Pages 64-65 in your atlas to answer the following Questions.

1. What year was the first transcontinental railroad completed?

2. What is the difference in time to cross the country compared to before the railroad?

3. What are two ways the railroads changed the US?

4. How many miles of track had been laid by 1890?

5. What effect did railroads have on buffalo? How about cattle?