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THE REVOLUTIONARY EFFECTS OF THE RAILROADS ON CALIFORNIA AND THE NATION

History 124 Professor Marcelle Levine March 28, 2019

The creation of the railroads that connect California to the eastern coast of the nation brought about many revolutionary changes to America. Due to long and dangerous routes that separated California from the eastern coast, the nation struggled to efficiently transport resources from one place to another in a timely manner. The railroads helped facilitate a solution to this issue, and along with its construction, many changes were brought about to the nation in regard to its economic, social, and political state. Many of these changes significantly influenced the future of the nation in a positive respect, while others highlighted underlying tensions that would eventually result in extreme social and ethnic divides. Nevertheless, the railroads enabled California and the nation to pursue new opportunities for growth by influencing the development of new cities, expanding the population, growing economically, enabling the transportation of goods, resources, and passengers in a more time-efficient manner, utilizing unaccessible domains, and establishing a transcontinental connection. Prior to the creation of the railroads and around the time of the Civil War, transportation of goods --such as mail, in specific-- across the country from California to the east was inefficient in respect to both time and cost. In 1858, the nation agreed to subsidize The Butterfield Overland Mail company to transport mail across the country in three weeks or less. 1 Although this was the quickest method of mail delivery of at this time, it became too expensive. For this reason, in 1860, the Pony Express, which was a system of transportation expedited the process of transporting mail and other goods to ten days rather than three weeks, was 2

implemented. However, yet again, the system was stopped after only 18 months and other

Cherny, Gretchen Lemke-Santangelo, and Richard Griswold Del Castillo, Competing Visions: A History of California , (Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2014), 151. 2 Ibid., 151. 1

Robert W.

3

methods were sought out due to expenses. Alternate routes by sea were considered, but these routes were estimated to take nearly 130 days to travel along, which contradicted the ultimate goal of implementing a more time-efficient transportation system. 4Therefore, it was finally agreed upon that a direct railroad was necessary in improving transportation of goods across the nation. It was not until 1861 that Theodore Judah, an engineer, approached the Republican Congress with a vision and proposal to build a railroad through the Sierra Nevada. 5 Following his proposal, Judah gained support from four prominent Republican men named Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker.6 Together, Judah and this group of men, often referred to as “The Big Four,” created the Central Pacific Railroad Company (CP.) In 1862, Congress decided to pass the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862, which essentially bound the CP to work in alliance with another company named the Union Pacific Railroad Company (UP) in order to achieve the completion of the track. 7 The companies were offered land grants and subsidies as a motive to build the railroad as quickly and efficiently as possible. From 1862-1868, the CP and UP worked tirelessly to complete the tracks. 8 As an incentive to get the railroad completed as soon as possible, the federal government offered each company subsidies and federal land grants for each mile of track that was built. 9 The government framed this as a competition between the two companies; the company who built the most of the

3 Ibid.,

151. Ibid., 151. 5  Ibid., 152. 6 Ibid., 152. 7 Ibid., 152. 8 Ibid., 152. 9 Ibid., 152. 4 

tracks would receive more compensation in subsidies and land grants. Therefore, the two companies competed against the clock and against one another to maximize their rewards. As each mile of the track was constructed, new avenues for opportunity were created. Many new cities began to develop in areas that lined the railroad, which offered significant economic expansion of the nation. The railroad provided means for wealthy Americans to travel to these newly developed cities. This gave more opportunity for travelers to endorse these destinations, and in turn, spread the wealth within the nation. In addition to the economic advantage that wealthy travelers brought, the immigration of people into America also influenced the construction of more schools to accommodate the rise in population of growing cities. Therefore, the nation saw benefit in regard to the expansion of education as well. Furthermore, the railroad created opportunity to gain access to varying domains and to utilize more land to our benefit. 10 Some areas, with soils rich in nutrients and varying climates, would serve as great grounds to utilize for future agricultural purposes. 11 Other domains now made available by the railroad would give people access to precious minerals, as well as gold and silver, that were previously inaccessible. 12 This would inevitably contribute to the economy, as well as open up job opportunities and population growth. As the populations within the nation grew, there was also an influx of new businesses, and in turn, revenue from those businesses.13 In particular, this was especially prominent in California. Although the influx of businesses contributed to the growth of power within

George Expresses Skepticism About Railroad, 1868," in Major Problems in California History, ed. Sucheng Chan and Spencer Olin (Boston: Wadsworth, 1997), 164-166. 11  Ibid., 164-166. 12  Ibid., 164-166. 13 Ibid., 164-166.

10 

"Henry

California as a whole, those who ran businesses were very successful, while others who did not, struggled significantly. This created an economic divide within the population, which separated the wealthy and successful from the average and poor. 14 This would eventually lead to a change within California -- and in some respects, a new standard -- where self-employment would no longer serve as a reliable and successful source of income due to the competition brought by business owners.15 Along with the new connections to different areas of the nation, the railroad laid the framework for other transcontinental roads to be built. 16 These roads would have several branches and feeders, which further connects the surrounding regions. 17 The development of these roads and means of transportation taught an important lesson in respect to how to efficiently utilize the natural domain and resources of California. This was crucial in the understanding of developing new places from what was once just wilderness. Furthermore, another major change that was caused by the railroad was that resources within California were now more readily available to places across the nation. California, and especially the city of San Francisco, was extremely rich in resources and had a wide variety to offer. The state was very successful agriculturally, and was actually considered the top producer of many agricultural products, like wheat and wine. 18 Moreover, California also developed many

164-166. Ibid., 164-166. 16 "Leland Stanford Extols the Public Benefits of Railroad Construction, 1887," in Major Problems in California History, ed. Sucheng Chan and Spencer Olin (Boston: Wadsworth, 1997), pg. 166-167. 17 Ibid., 166-167. 18  Robert W. Cherny, Gretchen Lemke-Santangelo, and Richard Griswold Del Castillo, Competing Visions: A History of California , (Boston, MA: Wadsworth, 2014), 150. 14 15

Ibid.,

new technologically advanced mining tools, as well. In addition, Humboldt County in California was a major source for lumber, which was yet again a much needed resource that remained isolated from rest of the nation. 19 Neither California’s agricultural products, mining tools, nor lumber were able to be transported to other areas prior to the creation of the railroad due to the long, treacherous, and dangerous routes prior to the railroad. That is to say, the railroad helped facilitate the need for a way to bring these resources to other parts of the nation, so that they could be benefitted from as well. 20 Finally, one of the most important changes that California and the nation saw as a result of the influence of the railroad was in respect to cultural and social changes. At the beginning of the railroad’s construction, the CP hired 10,000 Chinese laborers to work on the tracks because they served as a cheap source of labor. 21 Not only was hiring the Chinese the most cost-efficient option, but they were also extremely hard-working, quick-paced, and were willing to do extremely dangerous tasks, such as descend down the faces of cliffs by rope and basket to chip away at rock.22 However, despite their aid in the making of the railroad, their presence in America and their taking of American jobs quickly gave rise to social tensions. As social tensions grew over the years following the completion of the railroad, the matter gained more attention politically. Political cartoons and propaganda began to be released. Many of these cartoons aimed to depict the Chinese as foreigners who were malicious, scary, aggressive, and threatening to his or her American peers. Consequently, fear among Americans grew toward the

Ibid., 150. Ibid., 150. 21  Ibid., 154. 22  Ibid., 154. 19  20 

Chinese, and as a result, Congress decided to pass the Chinese Exclusion Act. 23 The act restricted any person of Chinese origin to immigrate into the United States for ten years. 24 This created a significant and long-lasting social and ethnic divide between the Americans and the Chinese. The railroads influenced California and the nation in many respects; it caused the development of new cities, created more opportunities to travel, brought about significant economic change, caused a large growth in population, gave access to various domains and their resources, provided quicker transportation of resources, influenced social and ethnic divides, and established a more intimate connection with the other side of the country. Despite the few tensions that arose, the construction of the railroads yielded many positive benefits that are now characteristic of the growth of the country. The railroad served as framework for America to progress toward a world of more convenience and efficiency -- and more importantly, to transition into a new era, where industrially the country could thrive. It is only a matter of time before we see significant change in America again-- when an idea or need will turn into the next revolutionary project.

J ohn Green. The Railroad Journey and the Industrial Revolution: Crash Course World History 214. [online] YouTube. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GYAk5jCTQ3s (2014). 23

24

Ibid....