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 legislation authorized two railroad companies, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific, to construct the lines.

Detailed explanation-3: -Eight Irish tracklayers put down 3, 520 rails, while other workers laid 25, 800 ties and drove 28, 160 spikes in a single day. On May 10, 1869, at Promontory Summit, Utah, a golden spike was hammered into the final tie. The transcontinental railroad was built in six years almost entirely by hand.

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.

Detailed explanation-5: -In 1862, the Pacific Railroad Act chartered the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroad Companies, tasking them with building a transcontinental railroad that would link the United States from east to west.