Historical Context

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Historical Context
Historical Context
The Barrier
A Toilsome JourneyProgress with Judah
Breaking the Barrier
Breaking the BarrierNot Without SetbacksUnited by Gold
Conclusion
Unforeseen ConsequencesConclusion
Research

NEW IDEAS IN TROUBLESOME TIMES

In the 1800s, The United States was not so much a united place. As tensions between the North and South escalated, America began tearing at the seams of the Mason-Dixon Line. In 1861, battles finally broke out, resulting in the start of a short yet significant civil war. Even though these years were rough, several new innovations had their inception:

The first steam-powered locomotive was created in 1830, allowing the mass transport of goods and people across long distances.
The development of nitroglycerin in the 1840s made tunneling through mountains viable.
Samuel Morse developed the telegraph in 1837, allowing for almost instant communication across vast distances.
Louis-Jacques-Mande Daguerre invented the daguerreotype photography method in 1839, making photographs more available to the general American public.

Threvick, Richard. Trevithick's Tramroad Locomotive. 1802, https://railroad.lindahall.org/siteart/essa ys/trevithick200.jpg.

“An Interior View of the Central Pacific Railroad's Unfinished Summit Tunnel on Donner Pass.” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/exhibitions/transcontinental-railroad/changing-landscape/tunnel-construction?item=948.

The Telegraph Key Used to Send the Famous Message “What Hath God Wrought” over the Prototype Telegraph Line between Baltimore and Washington D.C. in 1844. Smithsonian American Art Museum, https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/2019/05/24/today-history-may-24-1844-samuel-morse-transmitted-first-message-telegraph-line/3746291002/.

Bokelberg, Hamburg. Jabez Hogg Making a Portrait in Richard Beard's Studio, 1843. 1843, http://www.robswebstek.com/2015/10/daguerreotype-photographer-at-work.html.

Despite the major political and social splits, America was becoming a more connected place. The next step to this connection would be allowing its people to travel very far in a very short amount of time. A transcontinental railroad was the obvious solution.

The Transcontinental Railroad: Breaking Barriers from East To West
Lane Nickson and Michael Knigge
Senior Division
Group Website
1,200 Student-Composed Words
4 Minutes of Multimedia
500 Word Process Paper

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National History Day 2019-2020
"Breaking Barriers"

THE TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

NEW IDEAS IN TROUBLESOME TIMES