RECONSTRUCTION 1865 1877
TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD
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Question
[CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
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The Central Pacific had to carve a path through the rugged Sierra Nevada
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At times, crews cutting tunnels through rock advanced only a few inches a day.
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Snowstorms and avalanches killed workers.
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The Union Pacific had to cut through the towering Rocky Mountains
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Detailed explanation-1: -They had to face dangerous work conditions – accidental explosions, snow and rock avalanches, which killed hundreds of workers, not to mention frigid weather.
Detailed explanation-2: -Each company faced unprecedented construction problems-mountains, severe weather, and the hostility of Native Americans. On May 10, 1869, in a ceremony at Promontory, Utah, the last rails were laid and the last spike driven.
Detailed explanation-3: -Winter weather was the CP’s greatest, most underestimated problem. During the winter of 1866, it took nearly half the CP work force of 9, 000 men just to keep the track shoveled.
Detailed explanation-4: -The Central Pacific met its greatest challenge at the outset-the towering Sierra Nevada, which presented enormous engineering obstacles and strangling winter snows. Deep fills, rock cuts, high trestles, snaking grades, and 15 tunnels through 6, 213 feet of solid granite blooded the CP crews.
Detailed explanation-5: -“Chinese received 30-50 percent lower wages than whites for the same job and they had to pay for their own food stuffs, ” Chang says. “They also had the most difficult and dangerous work, including tunneling and the use of explosives. There is also evidence they faced physical abuse at times from some supervisors.