The Transcontinental railroad had many impacts on the United States. One of the many impacts include the expansion of the West. The Western part of the United States went from an isolated piece of land, to a major economic and political force, while triggering a mass migration to the Great Plains. The building of the Transcontinental Railroad not only encourages people to move West, but it also increases trade and business. Much needed food was grown and raised on farms in the West and shipped back to cities in the East to feed their growing populations. Finished goods, supplies, tools, medicine, and factory made products were shipped from the cities in the East, to the settlers in the West. The railroad allowed this freight to be transported faster and at a much cheaper rate. The availability of supplies increased. Not only did the railroad boost up interstate commerce, the busy transport links, lead to the growth of cities. Settlement in the Western regions increased and the new system of transportation helped to build an industrial economy on a national scale.
Fun Fact: The transcontinental Railroad left a massive impact on the environment.
Fun Fact Explanation: The massive amounts of wooded needed for the building of the railroad, left a shortage of wood due to the thousands of trees cut down. Where wild areas were before are now where cities and towns have been established along the rail lines. Hunters got to hunt and kill millions of buffalo, which left a major impact on the Native Americans as the buffalo almost went extinct. For more info on the effects that buffalo had on the Native Americans, keep reading:).
Map of the Transcontinental Railroad
The Homestead Act of 1862 helped to increase settlement of the United States Western territory. Supplies and people needed to go to the Western part of the United States to be able to bring back food to the eastern cities due to their increase in population. The Homestead Act gave 160 acres of land away to people who met the said requirements. You have to be a U.S. citizen, someone who never fought against the United States and a male or head of the family over 18. You were also required to pay the filing fee of $10 for your paperwork. Lastly, you must agree to stay and "improve" the land given for 5+ years otherwise the contract will be broken and you will have to leave. Improving the land could mean putting animals on the land, farming and growing crops, or even stating a business. If you were to sign the contract, you would get a chance in getting one of the greatest opportunities to get or as Abraham Lincoln said," a fair chance in the race of life." The Homestead Act had a great impact on the settlement of the West. It ultimately helped to create the most productive agricultural economy. Former farmers who left their homelands for this opportunity, were able to extend their skills and knowledge and discover new crops. Farmers helped build up the land and show others by their example. Although this was the result, early farmers had to first learn how to adapt to the new environment, because they faced some challenges. These challenges include Locusts/insects, snakes, and rodents, isolation and lack of resources, and tornadoes. They overcame these setbacks, and soon even immigrants were willing to come to the U.S. territories and start a new life. The Homestead Act overall gave a chance in life and helped expand the settlement of the West.
Homesteaders on the Great Plains during Westward Expansion
Standard Time in the United States
During Westward Expansion and the traveling of the trains, keeping track of the time proved to be very difficult for railroad officials. If each station takes a guess of what they think the time is, the result is that each station will most likely end up with a different time. A small difference of time can be very dangerous for traveling trains. Therefore, time zones were created. Each city would set their clocks depending on the location of the sun. When each area discovered their said time, there ended up being around 8,000 different times. Scheduling trains became impossible. As the continent realized, standard time was born now with only 4 standard time zones. Time zones were created to help with many things. These include to coordinate shipping arrivals and departures on trains, make telling time more universal and easier to remember, and most importantly, to make rail lines more safe and efficient to use.
Native American uses for the buffalo
Native Americans or Indians who lived on the Great Plains, had to find effective and efficient ways to survive. The resource that they discovered to be the most useful was the buffalo. The buffalo came to be the most important and dependable resource that they had. Native Americans had many uses for the buffalo. The meat was their food source, and the bones were used for tools such as knives. They would use the muscles for weapons such as bow strings, which was their chosen weapon to use to hunt the buffalo. The buffalo hide with the hair allowed them to make clothing, blankets, and shelter for the cold long winters. Lastly, Native Americans used the buffalo manure to fuel for their campfire smoke signals. In conclusion, the main uses of buffalo were for food, clothing, shelter, fuel, tools and religious ceremonies. Native Americans were able to survive off of these uses, and this shows how much they depended and worshiped this species of animal. Therefore, without buffalo the Native Americans would have not survived.
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Same person, just a couple of weeks later.
Native Americans were forced into a process called the assimilation process. This process was the United States effort to transform Native American culture into European-American culture. Assimilation means blending into a culture by force or by choice. Based off the knowledge we already know about how Native Americans were treated, we can determine that they were forced to change. Native Americans ways changed dramatically including their culture, life and appearance.They went from looking in their traditional clothing with jewelry, designs embedded, with long hair, to short hair in wearing formal dress suits and very posh. Indians would have all of their hair cut off as people made fun or them as they walked by. Forced into boarding school, Indians were forced to convert to Christianity and spend half a day learning English and academics and half a day on industrial training. When they were forced to be Christian, they were baptized from a local river. As Indians were practicing more European- American ways of life, they started to lose touch of their Indian practiced religion. They also forgot their cultural ways such as religious ceremonies as soon could only remember their former Indian name. lastly, you weren't allowed to speak or practice your native ways. If done so, you were punished by getting beaten and hit. Therefore the assimilation process changed Indians and the way of life they had practiced and worshiped for a long time.
Sitting Bull was a Teton Dakota Indian chief who united the Sioux tribes of the Great Plains against white settlers taking their land. Sitting Bull was a hero to his people for some time because he wouldn't stop trying to defend his people's land. Bigger armies were sent against Sitting Bull because of how he led his tribe through successful battles such as the Battle of the Rosebud and The Battle of Little Bighorn. Although when gold was discovered in the Black Hills, a rush of white prospectors invaded their lands. Sitting Bull responded but was only ever able to win battles, not wars.
Geronimo was a medicine man in the Bedonkohe band of the Chiricahua. He was an Apache leader of the Chiricahua Apache, who led his people's defense of their homelands against the military of the United States. He was known for his fearlessness in war and fighting for his homelands for over 30 years. Geronimo was known for his supreme bravery, fighting against both Mexican and the United States to protect Apache land. He was repeatedly evading capture and life on a reservation. His followers viewed him as the last greatest defender of the Native American way of life, as white prospectors hated him because of the fact that he wouldn't stop fighting back for his homelands.
Chief Joseph was a leader of the Wallowa and of the Nez Perce tribe. He was faced with settlement by whites of tribal lands, and when the U.S. attempted to force him to a reservation, Joseph agreed. After the killing of whites by his people because they disagreed with him, tensions rose. He tried to lead his people in a dramatic effort across the Rocky Mountains, to escape to Canada, in what is considered one of the greatest retreats in military history. Later when he surrenders, 40 miles south of Canada, he gives up after fighting and out maneuvering his enemies. He exclaims,"I am tired of fighting. Our chiefs are killed."
The ways of life and ruins that Native Americans went through was part of a tragic time in history. Westward Expansion really beat them, to the point where they had to fight back in order to try to keep their land. Native American leaders took charge to do the best that they could for their people. There were three leaders that are greatly remembered to this day. Sitting Bull, Geronimo, and Chief Joseph. Geronimo was the greatest leader out of the three. Geronimo perhaps the most famous leader of all time, was a medicine man in the band of the Chiricahua. he fought for his homelands for over 30 years and was not ready to give up. Known for his supreme bravery, fighting against Mexico and the U.S. he evaded capture and life on the reservations. Geronimo did the best that he could, fighting with every last bit of energy to save his tribes land. With all of the losses of family members, he tried to get revenge and fight as hard as he could for his people who needed it. White settlers hated him for it and suggested that "he was the worst Indian to ever live." When captured, he was the last leader to surrender the United States military. Later in life, he explains to his nephew,"I should have fought until I was the last one alive." This quot shows how much he cared about his people and how much more he was willing to do to save his people's land.