Transcontinental Railroad Article

Construction on the _________ began on January 8, 1863 in ______, when workers for the Central Pacific Railroad first broke ground for the track. 

• Transcontinental Railroad,

  Los Angeles,

• Transcontinental Railroad,

  Omaha,

• Transcontinental Railroad,

  Sacramento

• Transcontinental Railroad,

  Detroit

The ______ began breaking ground in Omaha. 

• Long Island Railroad

• Norfolk Southern Railroad

• North Atlantic Railroad

• Union Pacific Railroad

Why did both railroad companies have to find a large labor force?

• The Indigenous people refused to work.

• Irish immigrant laborers were moving west to work on farms or in mines.

• Enslavement was over and they couldn't force people to work.

• College graduates did not want to be laborers.

Why did most white male laborers NOT want to work for the railroad companies?

• They could get less dangerous and higher paying jobs in other areas.

• It was easier to get an office job during the Industrial Revolution.

• They wanted to return to the military.

• They were getting hired for goverment jobs.

What does it mean to do a job that's grueling? Select all that apply.

• The job can cause medical problems if done for a long time.

• The job is simple to complete each day.

• The job is done in the outdoors in extreme heat or extreme cold.

• The job requires long hours.

_______ means: involving or exposing one to risk (as of loss or harm).

• terrain

• hazardous

• daunting

• savvy

What were two negative affects of the Transcontinental Railroad?

• The trains kept derailing.

• Buffalo populations were getting wiped out.

• Many people had jobs.

• Land was unlawfully seized from Indigenous peoples.

Why were the railroad companies recruiting abroad?

• Very few white male workers responded to job ads.

• Abraham Lincoln wanted to increase immigration from China.

• The Opium Wars were impacting lives in Asia.

• There were not enough people living in the U.S that wanted to work.

In the summer of 1867, why did thousands of Chinese workers organize the largest labor stoppage in America up to that date? Select all the correct answers.

• Chinese laborers were tired of deforestation.

• Chinese laborers were working in dangerous conditions for less money than white workers.

• Chinese laborers wanted to return to China.

• Chinese laborers earned between half and two-thirds of what white laborers did, and had to pay for their food. 

Railroad bosses ultimately broke the strike by withholding food rations and threatening violence, and the workers‛ demands were denied. What are rations?

• Buffet style meals

• the practice of having a fixed allowance of food

• Having a clear head to think and make decisions.

• Unlimited food supplies.