Taken from http://www.umesd.k12.or.us/tcr_home
By 1854, there were 15,675 miles of railroad track in the United States, but Council Bluffs, Iowa, on the east bank of the Mississippi River was the end of the line. The building of the transcontinental railroad was undertaken to link the Atlantic and Pacific coasts of North America, thereby providing safer, easier and more economical means of moving people, raw materials, and finished goods from the Mississippi River to California. One byproduct of that great venture was the need for 30,000 laborers to lay the track. These job opportunities were one way society could meet the needs of a diverse population, but finding enough workers was difficult. Many of the transcontinental railroad workers were immigrants seeking employment in a new world.
You have been sent back in time to the 1860s. The United States of America is still reeling from the effects of the Civil War. The North and South are being reunited. The country has a new mission: to unite East and West. You will take on a role from this period and define what it took to make the United States of America, a continental nation and a world power.
The class will be divided into 5 groups:
1. Union Pacific Railroad- the Irish Immigrants
2. Central Pacific Railroad- the Chinese Immigrants
Click on your group's name and answer the questions at the top of the page. Use the links towards the bottom of the web page to find the answers.(Note: Some links might not work, therefore, you must search for other helpful websites to answer your question)
Submit your answers with your group names into the appropriate class color below...
