USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The legislative efforts that resulted in the Pacific Railway Act led to the successful completion of the transcontinental railroad, which reduced the travel time across the continent from several months to one week and is considered one of the greatest technological achievements of the 19th century.

Detailed explanation-2: -The first rails were spiked in January of 1863. However, the bulk of the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad would not truly start until after the end of the Civil War. Construction of the railroad boomed in May of 1866.

Detailed explanation-3: -Aided by federal land grants, there was a great deal of railroad construction after the Civil War, especially in the West. Trackage increased from 35, 000 miles in 1865 to 254, 000 miles in 1916, the eve of America’s entry into World War I.

Detailed explanation-4: -One year into the Civil War, a Republican-controlled Congress passed the Pacific Railroad Act (1862), guaranteeing public land grants and loans to the two railroads it chose to build the transcontinental line, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific.