BUILDING THE FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL RAIL Essay Research

Building THE FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL RAIL Essay, Research Paper

Building THE FIRST TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD

From the clip when engines foremost set their huge wheels onto the cold Fe of analogue tracks, Americans longed for a agency of transit which would link the separate parts of California and the Eastern provinces. This demand for connexion, fueled by manifest fate led to the edifice of the first transcontinental railway. Expansion of the railwaies would hold been postponed indefinitely without the unjust support the authorities provided to the robber barons. This unjust support came in the signifier of extra land grants, exceptionally low involvement rates on loans, and loopholes in the diction of the Pacific Railroad Act. These were due in portion to graft and the political power exercised by members of the Big Four and Union Pacific governments. Although appropriate for this paper, the topic of Chinese workers will non be covered. The authorities surely turned their cheek on this affair and a whole paper entirely could be devoted to this topic.

In order to understand the legion complexnesss of the issue at manus, one must first grok the place of the competently named? Big Four? which was comprised of Collis Huntington, Mark Hopkins, Leland Stanford and Charles Crocker. These four were persuaded by Theodore Judah to set non merely their bosom and psyche, but besides their money into the building of the railway.

Collis Huntington, the most detested member of the Big Four, besides lived the longest.

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Huntington was good known for his uncommon combination of thrift, forbearance, and finding. When he left for California, he had twelve hundred dollars in his pocket.

Upon landing, Huntington possessed about five 1000 dollars, a true show of his concern accomplishments.

Together with Huntington, Mark Hopkins owned a hardware shop in Sacramento. This concern was much more moneymaking that really mining for gold in the hills. This shop was one of the most profitable and most good known in Sacramento. Hopkins finalized every determination made by the Central Pacific.

Leland Stanford was a people individual. This accomplishment originally helped him win in political relations, but would finally besides help out in the railway concern. Stanford originally left for California after a black fire in his jurisprudence office. Stanford was often back east though. He had a tightly knit relationship with Abraham Lincoln. Historians point out this relationship most likely affected national policies sing the West Coast, particularly the railway

If anyone could be head of the work force, one would desire it to be Charles Crocker. Similar to Stanford, he excelled in people accomplishments. Crocker was revered by all who worked under him. He one time delivered the worker? s hebdomadal wage personally, keeping a bag of gold high in the air.

Bringing these four work forces together was no simple undertaking. Theodore Judah accomplished

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this undertaking with an intuitive sense of how the group would associate with one another. It was his dream to link the established E with the still organizing west. Everyone in Sacramento thought old Ted Judah was brainsick. It was he who personally mapped out the Sierras with merely a Equus caballus and some paper. Judah found a path that made it possible to traverse this country. He was excited to be included in the Big Five, but it wasn? T to be. Judah wanted to construct the route with honestness. As it turned out, the work forces he selected no longer suit this class. The new Big Four bought out Judah for $ 100,000. Judah still wanted a railway for himself. He took the money with him to New York, but on the manner back, he died of Yellow Fever. With that, the Big Four could get down their unconstitutional edifice of the transcontinental railway.

When combined, the Big Four? s net worth did non number more than 1.5 million dollars. Harmonizing to the Pacific Railroad Act, a full 40 stat mis of path needed to be in topographic point before any authorities support was to kick in. This job posed a trouble for both the Union Railroad and Central Pacific Railroad.

Most of the support for the railwaies came from the Pacific Railroad Act. President Pierce vehemently opposed the building of a transcontinental railway. Pierce believed that constructing with authorities financess was unconstitutional when the jurisprudence was

right interpreted. Railway protagonists were speedy to recognize that they would necessitate to

delay until conditions improved in the White House. Once Pierce was out of the manner, an

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act such as the one affecting the Pacific Railroad could be passed with much greater

easiness.

Congress had the pick of edifice three waggon roads, or one of two proposed railwaies. Congress tended to tilt in favour of the railway, but nil could be voted on until the terminal of the Civil War.

The Railroad Acts of 1862 and 1865 were wholly unjust to people who wanted to construct a railway of their ain. The fiscal assistance supplied was absurd. Congress approved a thirty-year bond in the sum of six million dollars with six per centum involvement collected biyearly. Union Pacific and Central Pacific received land grants of 10 stat mis on either side of the route. This included the rights to all lumber, and finally all minerals within the free land. A conservative estimation put the value of one timbered acre at $ 300. With 500,000 estates, this totaled a value of $ 150 million.1 In add-on to the bonds, the authorities would pay anyplace from $ 16,000 to $ 48,000 per stat mi of path. The sole right to widen the railway from Sacramento to San Francisco was given to Central Pacific.

A subject that was to come up frequently in the edifice of the Union Pacific was the inquiry of Indians. After all, it was their rightful land harmonizing to the pacts signed in old old ages. The authorities was to give away land that was non theirs harmonizing to pacts agreed to on each side. The authorities merely ignored the fact that they were occupying

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other people? s belongings, establishing their logical thinking on manifest fate. Americans had the impression that G-d had given them the right to make whatever they pleased with the land that reached from the Atlantic, all the manner to the Pacific. The Indians were non excessively pleased with the? Iron Road? that was doing an visual aspect.

In a missive to General Sherman, civil applied scientist Grenville Dodge made an ultimatum: ? We? ve got to clean the Indian out or give up. The authorities may take its pick. ? 2 Dodge made it clear that the Indians, who were on land that they owned, were in the manner of the railway. The known manner to unclutter out the Indians without physically killing them was to kill their beginnings of nutrient, vesture, and mundane necessities. This was accomplished through mass violent deaths of bison. The bison was the primary life beginning of the Indians. The authorities did non even seek to put up treatments with the Indians to decide the railway affair. The authorities merely killed off the bison without warning. There was nil the Indians could make to forestall such atrociousnesss.

The Railroad Act had a myriad of loopholes within itself. Behind the scenes use of committeemen by Huntington is the most likely cause of these oversights. For case, no topographic point in the act states a deadline for completion of the route or refund of the loans. During arguments over the act, the point of constructing local imperiums became a important issue. Branch lines could perchance be utilizing the Central Pacific as a screen for making local imperiums with national money.3

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Jay Gould tried stealing a support measure under Congress? s nose that would allow the railway wage back the authorities on footings created by themselves. Huntington had an thought of his ain where he would really sell back given authorities land to the authorities. He would sell it back to them for $ 2.50 an acre. This money would add up to a monstrous sum and set a large dent in the debt of the railwaies. While non even the most educated historiographer can state for certain what the railway cost the authorities, estimations are in the mid one hundred 1000000s of dollars. This cost provided for 2,307 stat mis of path.

Despite the tremendous sums of hard currency supplied by the authorities, money was still short. Stanford testified before the Pacific Railroad committee:

? By this clip ( October 1867 ) , our agencies were really limited. Under Acts of the Apostless of Congress, we had mortgaged the route and issued bonds one hundred stat mis in progress of building? it was dubious if we could perchance travel on. ? 4

Central Pacific Railroad? s adviser was Roscoe Conkling. He knew of the illegal operation of the railway? s hard currency. He was q

uoted as stating:

? Stanford investigated and found the absence of case in point. There were no regulations that could regulate between contractors? they ( Central Pacific ) told Crocker to travel on with the work without the respect to the footings of the contract and the managers would see him through. ? 5

In Burton W, Folsom? s book Entrepreneurs Versus the State, he describes two assortments of enterprisers: political and market. Political enterprisers make money through subsidies, grants and other authorities involved resources. Market enterprisers

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are about precisely opposite. They make their money through bettering their merchandises, values and services, invariably take downing their price.6

When examined from any angle, it is obvious that the transcontinental railway was built from the political enterpriser? s position. Executive members of the railwaies teamed up with congresswomans who sought unearned congratulations. This would take to more power for those involved. The congresswomans merrily handed the railwaies significant subsidies because once the route was built, Congress could take the glorification for supplying the agencies of constructing it. Both sides were happy.

Unfortunately, this was non the Congressmans? s money to pass. While it is true that they had the right to make up one’s mind on how the money was to be spent, it was perfectly unconstitutional to pass the populace? s money in this manner. The Fundamental law does province that

Congress controls public land belonging to the U.S. , but it besides states that the authorities has no right to donate any of the public sphere to the exclusion of others. This contribution was non unfastened to anyone who wanted it. In this state of affairs, the authorities merely gave land off to the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroads.

As it has already been discussed, the authorities paid the railwaies by the stat mi. Therefore, both companies built the most out of the manner routes that were admissible. The longer the route was, the more money which could be collected. In the heads of the Big Four, the railway was non traveling to gain most after its completion. It would thrive during

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building. In this manner of thought, Stanford hired California State geologist J. W. Whitney to study the land. Stanford asked him about where the foothills of the Sierra started, so he would cognize when to get down bear downing the authorities excess money per stat mi. Whitney concluded that where the dirt started to alter colour, the foothills began. While this may be the truth, the existent slopes did non get down for another 24 stat mis. Lincoln trusted Stanford? s decision on this affair. In consequence, harmonizing to Charles Crocker, ? Here? s a instance where Abraham? s religion has moved mountains. ? 7 The authorities efficaciously doled out an excess $ 748,000.

Possibly the biggest effect of constructing the route excessively fast was hapless craft. Operating costs were highly high because many stat mis of path were unfit for usage get downing from when they were foremost pounded into the Earth. From the gap of the route, it was a fiscal catastrophe. Two other authorities railwaies would finally follow suit with what the Union Pacific and Central Pacific? accomplished. ? These two railwaies headed consecutive towards debt from twenty-four hours one. History repeated itself in this manner. Either Congress was unqualified, or they were being paid to be unqualified, because losing 100s of 1000000s of dollars is non an easy effort.

While Congress was busy non paying attending to the climb losingss, they were disregarding the one manner they could gain back their money. If feeder lines were established, freight volume would lift. Feeder lines are junctions where a train could travel off the line

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for a few stat mis to a nearby sawmill or other industry, and hale their goods for them. If Congress was non busy accepting payoffs, they could hold been spread outing the coverage of the railway from merely a consecutive line, to a fully fledged system.

The ground for which Congress sat on their pollex was the Big Four and the Union Pacific were non interested in efficient direction. They were entirely interested in political pull. This left the companies broad unfastened to fraud. Payoffs and sellouts were a common happening. In this instance, Congress? s end was non to function in the best involvement of the populace, but alternatively the railwaies. By the 1890s, the commission on the Pacific railway had received notice that the railway companies had placed their involvements merely in having subsidies, non making and keeping the route. This had been obvious all along, but cipher in Congress had said much in this respect.

In the old ages old dirt had emerged known as the Credit Mobilier Scandal. Out of all of the? under the tabular array? dirts and supposed secrets, the Credit Mobilier is the most good known. The primary shareholders of the Union Pacific knew their company needed to construct 40 stat mis of path before authorities aid kicked in. For this ground, they formed a company called the Credit Mobilier of America. This company was awarded edifice contracts by Union Pacific. In order to win support of Congress, Union Pacific illicitly gifted portions of this company to influential powers on Capital Hill. This included the Vice Presidents of Ulysses S. Grant, Schuyler Colfax and Henry Wilson. When this

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dirt occurred in 1872 and 1873, there were well fewer members of Congress. The Senate was comprised of merely 40 members and the House 174. This trade was advantageous for the Congressmen, for whenever they approved a subsidy, their stock would lift in monetary value, gaining them free money. This manner, Congress was practically guaranteed to vote in favour of Union Pacific. Paid off Congressmans were efficaciously stealing from the authorities. All told, the authorities paid $ 173 million for an $ 83 million occupation. This was inordinate to the extreme. Thomas Durant, who set the company up, would bear down the authorities $ 50,000 for a stretch of land that cost merely $ 30,000. The excess money went directly into the pocket of shareholders ; Durant and the Congressmans

included. In entire, Durant and other Union Pacific functionaries reaped over $ 23 million dollars in dividends.

While the Union Pacific was involved in the Credit Mobilier Scandal, the Central Pacific was moving in inappropriate ways every bit good. The Big Four had ne’er been considered the most honorable people in the railway concern. In 1862, current Governor Stanford to a great extent pushed statute law which authorized the province to publish bonds to be used to buy stock in his ain company, Central Pacific. This was non something any mean individual could make. If it were non for the powers of being Governor, Stanford would hold ne’er succeeded in trades such as this 1. Another one of Stanford? s programs was to drift $ 12 million worth of bonds. Normally this would be all right. This instance was

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different nevertheless. Alternatively of the railway paying the involvement on these bonds, the province chipped in all of the money.

Contrary to a figure of history books and intelligence articles, the clip environing the edifice of the transcontinental railway was one of great edginess. The edifice wasn? t a glorification filled experience, particularly for the over 2,000 workers who died. This period of clip was one in which the Constitution was interpreted to be advantageous for both sides. Bribery was platitude in the one location where it hurt Americans the most, Congress. Their responsibility of functioning the populace was non accomplished in the period after the

Civil War. While it is true that the enlargement of the railway was of utmost importance to the populace, funding for it could hold been conducted in a much different mode. If the authorities had taken its clip set uping metropoliss on the path to California, the transcontinental railway would non hold been such a fiscal catastrophe from the start. It is unsure what routes would hold been taken without the unjust support of the Central Pacific and Union Pacific given by the authorities. It is possible that a path similar to James J. Hill? s Great Northern line would hold been taken. Hill learned from the errors of the authorities supported railwaies. He took his clip set uping metropoliss on his path, vouching success to his line, even in depression old ages.

Without unjust authorities support, the connection of two separate parts of the United States would hold taken more clip, more planning, and taken portion in fewer disgraceful

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activities. The consequences of this railway would hold produced a much greater milepost ; a close unflawed line of rushing engines that a state could take pride in cognizing their revenue enhancement dollars were hard at work contending felons, non providing the robber-barons with unnecessary luxuries.