Lincoln had intentions of building a continuous rail line from sea to shining sea. Construction began in 1862 and lasted a until after the Civil War in 1869. The Union had to build the line while still fighting the Confederacy, which slowed down construction greatly. Lincoln gave subsidies to railroad companies to build tracks west of the Mississippi River. A subsidy is a financial grant given to a company by the government. Subsidies came in the form of government bonds and loans as well as land grants to build railroads tracks on. The government gave millions of dollars in grants to railroad companies to make the Transcontinental Railroad possible, making it still the largest American subsidy to date. Lincoln had many reasons to build a transcontinental railroad. Firstly, mining towns out West needed large amounts of supplies. Mining towns also needed to transport gold and silver eastward. Continuous track would make transportation quicker and cheaper for corporations and individuals.
To build the line, companies used immigrant workers to build. Immigrants were willing to do the hard, manual labor after emigrating from their countries, because they needed to find paying jobs quickly. Immigrants were paid cheaply, for the hard, back-breaking work they put into the rough American terrain. Immigrants from China, Mexico, and Ireland worked with the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroad companies. On May 10, 1869, a full seven years after the job was taken up, construction on the Transcontinental Railroad was completed. At Promontory, Utah, the ceremonial gold and silver spikes were hammered in by the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroad Company presidents. Lincoln's dream seven years earlier was finally completed by the ringing of iron hammer meeting gold and silver railroad spikes at Promontory, Utah.The railroad did more than connect Sacramento to Omaha to the east coast cities. Following a devastating war between brothers of the same country, this railroad showed the way for the Reconstruction Area. It connected all of America together by rails running across the continent.
To build the line, companies used immigrant workers to build. Immigrants were willing to do the hard, manual labor after emigrating from their countries, because they needed to find paying jobs quickly. Immigrants were paid cheaply, for the hard, back-breaking work they put into the rough American terrain. Immigrants from China, Mexico, and Ireland worked with the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroad companies. On May 10, 1869, a full seven years after the job was taken up, construction on the Transcontinental Railroad was completed. At Promontory, Utah, the ceremonial gold and silver spikes were hammered in by the Union Pacific and Central Pacific Railroad Company presidents. Lincoln's dream seven years earlier was finally completed by the ringing of iron hammer meeting gold and silver railroad spikes at Promontory, Utah.The railroad did more than connect Sacramento to Omaha to the east coast cities. Following a devastating war between brothers of the same country, this railroad showed the way for the Reconstruction Area. It connected all of America together by rails running across the continent.