Power+of+America+1

This site includes information about the Industrial Revolution, Transcontinental Railroad, War between the Bosses and Workers and Freedom Machine.





In the factories the smoke and gases have killed many people because of the enormous amount that comes out of tanks. Parents have given complaints about their children being hurt from working in the factories and risking their children’s lives for money. Many parents think that it is best to keep their children home where it is safe rather than have them living in danger and fear. Even though money is very important, children are much more valuable. Factories have once created a war that killed many workers and a few bosses because there was a bombing at the workers. The population was decreasing because of all of the violence that happened during the war. There were many poorly and uncared for decisions made in the town. Everything became very expensive, for example school was way too much to pay for. In the 1900s getting an education was very important. The age that was permitted to go to school was 12. That is why the children in orphanages go to school no matter what. Life was difficult in the past, for example money was hardly earned, food was difficult to keep and school was very expensive. On the other hand for the wealthy families life was a gentle breeze. For them money was everywhere it was always there when they needed it. Different people have different struggles in life.



This story was mainly about two companies (Union Pacific and Central Pacific) who built the Transcontinental Railroad. The first trains were dangerous and uncomfortable. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railroad Act. The Pacific Railroad received more land to lay the tracks. The Big Four and Judah argued on how fast or slow the track was to be built. Judah left searching for investors in New York City while on the way he died. When they started losing workers to the mines they decided to hire Chinese people. By the end of the year “Stro” hired 7,000 Chinese people.



Not many people supported the railroad because it was dangerous and uncomfortable. The train’s doors were always opened and didn’t keep passengers safe from bad weather. The animals were stray on the tracks causing many accidents. The engineers added a lantern and a whistle to let animals and people know a train was coming. When animals were still getting stray on the tracks the engineers decided to put a cow catcher in the front of the train. The Big Four needed permission for more land to build the railroad. Collis Huntington, Leland Stanford, Mark Hopkins and Charles Croker decided to send a worker to Washington D.C. for permission for more land. The big four had sent Judah to Washington D.C. to get permission by Abraham Lincoln and he was successful. When Judah started his company he called it the Central Pacific. The Big Four left the northeast for the gold rush. The Big Four and the Central Pacific had fought over how fast or how slow the railroad was being built. Many miles of land were left empty because of the progress being put into it and the bad weather. The bad weather took a long time to clean up because of all the snow on the mountains. The progress of the railroad wasn’t good because the men were leaving to go to the Nevada mines. Other men were leaving for the California gold rush. While the railroad workers were losing their men to the mines they decided to hire Chinese people. The Central Pacific didn’t think that Chinese people were good enough for the job. At the end of the year they hired 7,000 Chinese people to work on the railroad. The Chinese people were very good at leading the railroad to success and finishing it. On the lands that the Central Pacific wanted to lay track was the land that the Native Americans hunted and lead their tribes. They didn’t want the railroad to be built there because then they would have to split into different groups or split their tribe in half. They had to have a Peace Commission to settle they argument between the railroad and the tribe. The race to getting the railroad done was a major issue because of the weather they had. When they had a blizzard it would cover the mountain it would take weeks to clear the snow. It took them 3 years to find their way out of the avalanche during the years of 1965-1966. The central pacific had only 40 miles of track laid down because they had to dig through rock and soil.