America the Story of US Episode 6: Transcontinental Rail Road

Which two companies built the Transcontinental Railroad?

• Northern Pacific and Southern Pacific

• Central Pacific and Union Pacific

• Great Northern and Santa Fe

• B&O and Pennsylvania

Answer explanation

Explanation: The Central Pacific built from California eastward, while the Union Pacific built from Nebraska westward until they met in Utah.

How did the federal government pay the railroad companies?

• They paid them in gold and silver.

• They gave them stock in the companies.

• They gave them federal land.

• They used money collected from the Homestead Act.

Answer explanation

Explanation: The government used land grants as payment, giving companies alternating sections of land to encourage railroad construction.

Which group helped build the railroad alongside Irish immigrants and Civil War veterans?

• German immigrants

• Chinese workers

• Mexican laborers

• Freed African Americans

Answer explanation

Explanation: Thousands of Chinese laborers were brought to work in dangerous mountain terrain because they were skilled and reliable workers.

The completion of the railroad triggered a mass migration to which region?

• The Pacific Northwest

• The Great Plains

• The South
• The East Coast

Answer explanation

Explanation: The new rail lines made it easier for settlers to move west and claim land in the Great Plains.

Under the Homestead Act, about what percentage of America’s land was given away for free?

• 10%
• 25%
• 15%
• 5%

Answer explanation

Explanation: The government gave away about 10% of U.S. land to settlers willing to live on and improve it for five years.

What was “Green Gold” during westward expansion?

• Oil
• Coal
• Timber.
• Gold

Answer explanation

Explanation: Timber was highly valuable for building homes, railroads, and towns — earning the nickname “Green Gold.”

Around 1850, there were an estimated ​ (a)   ​ Buffalo that lived on the ​ (b)   .By ​ (c)   Fewer than ​ (d)   remained due to overhunting.

• 30 million
• Great Plains
• 1890
• 1,000

What was the purpose of The Cowboy in the American West?

• To farm wheat on the Great Plains

• To build fences for ranchers

• To drive cattle from Texas ranches to Kansas rail hubs

• To work on the railroads

Answer explanation

Explanation: Cowboys herded cattle across long trails to “cowtowns” where railroads could transport them to eastern markets.

What invention threatened the cowboy’s way of life?

• The telegraph

• The steam engine

• The automobile

• Barbed wire

Answer explanation

Explanation: Barbed wire allowed ranchers and farmers to fence land cheaply, ending the open range that cowboys depended on.

How long did the heyday of the cowboy on the open range last?

• About 20 years

• About 10 Years

• About 50 years

• About 5 Years

Answer explanation

Explanation: The classic “cowboy era” lasted roughly from the mid-1860s to the mid-1880s before fencing and railroads changed ranching.