Born in Bridgeport, Connecticut on March 4th, 1826, Theodore Judah would be the one man to kickstart the transcontinental railroad into action. At an early age, he studied civil engineering and became a railroad surveyor in his adulthood. As part of his work, he published a pamphlet entitled "A Practical Plan for Building the Pacific Railroad” and lobbied Congress for the Transcontinental Railroad’s funding.
"The project for construction of a great Railroad through the United States of America, connecting the Atlantic with the Pacific ocean, has been in agitation for over fifteen years.
It is the most magnificent project ever conceived.
It is an enterprise more important in its bearings and results to the people of the United States, than any other project involving an expenditure of an equal amount of capital.
It connects these two great oceans.
It is an indissoluble bond of union between the populous States of the East, and the undeveloped regions of the fruitful West.
It is a highway which leads to peace and future prosperity. An iron bond for the perpetuation of the Union and independence which we now enjoy."
- Theodore Judah, A Practical Plan for Building the Pacific Railroad
On July 1, 1862, all of Judas’s work paid off. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act into law, granting exclusive construction rights to two companies: the Central Pacific Railroad and the Union Pacific Railroad. The United States Government would help obtain land and pay $32,000 per mile of track.
The Effects of the Transcontinental on the Chinese and Native Americans
Kritzer, Lauren, director. Transcontinental Railroad and the American West. Transcontinental Railroad and the American West, Youtube.com, 15 Apr. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CdAzizWiyI.
"An Act to aid in the Contruction of a Railroad and Telegraph Line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean, and to secure to the Government the Use of the same for Postal, Military, and Other Purposes"
Congress. The Pacific Railway Act. https://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/ampage?collId=llsl&fileName=012/llsl012.db&recNum=520
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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
National History Day 2019-2020
"Breaking Barriers"