What is the Transcontinental Railroad?

1 Answer
Mar 7, 2018

The railroad that went to the Pacific

Explanation:

The first Transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869 and had been launched by Lincoln in 1862 with a bill. It is called transcontinental because it connected the two coast(West and East). The development of the railroad was a key element during the conquest of the West. The war that followed the failure of the 1873 Yellowstone expedition were caused by the will to create a new transcontinental railway.

California had become a state in 1850 and Oregon did so in 1857 and the connection between the East and the West was a huge problem. Most western territories did not become states until 1889 or the early twentieth century. However the connection with the West was a major issue. For instance during the Civil War, the Poney Express was used as a means of transportation for the mail to California.