Today we are researching.
railroads made westward expansion possible for business and people
govt gave lots of grants and loans to railroad companies bc they new they would help the whould help expansion
1856 railroads expanded to the mississippi
3 yrs later crossed missouri
May 10, 1869 Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads met at Promontory, Utah
golden spike marked first transcontinental railroad
other transcontinental followed as well as many reginal ones
start of Civil War nation had 30,000 miles of track
1890 nearly 6 times greater
Central Pacific Railroad company employed lots of Chinese immigrants
Union Pacific hired Irish immigrants and also out-of-work war veterans to layy track
Native Americans would attack them while they worked
thousands killed in accidents and diseases each year
1888 2,000 employes killed and 20,000 injured
each community still operated on its own time
noon in Boston was 12 min later than noon in New York
someone travling from Maine to Cali reset watches 20 times
Professer C. F. Dowd said earth should be divided into 24 time zones, one for each hr of the day
U.S. would be broken into 4 zones- Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific
railroad companies endorsed plan, many towns followed
November 18, 1883 railroad crews and towns had the same times "synchronized watches"
1884 international confrence that set worldwide time, incorperating railroad times
U.S. congress didnt official recognize the times until 1918
railroads also made way for abuses leading to social and economic unrest
10 hr days, 40-60$ a month with meals for whites
dawn to dusk, $35 a month, no meals for chinese
- book
Comments