CONCLUSION

Despite the many problems and physical hurdles that plagued the project, the Transcontinental Railroad broke barriers both physical and social. The route itself has been long replaced, but the impacts of the projects can still be seen in society today.

As a result of its construction,

• A trip across the nation would only cost $65 compared to its previous $1,000

• The time to travel across the nation was reduced from 6 months to just 6 days.

• The completion instilled a sense of national pride in the American government

The transcontinental railroad permitted the advancement in the obliteration of the physical, political, cultural and social barriers in the United States from East to West.

Physically, it broke through rough terrain to connect people and places.

Politically, legislation was passed—both good and bad—that changed peoples' rights as well as the lay of the land.

Culturally, the nation's diverse array of people were able to mix, creating new traditions and ways of life.

Socially, America was becoming a smaller place in the minds of its people with faster and easier ways to communicate.

Americans overcame these barriers with the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad, accelerating a new era of Euro-American influence into the western United States.