2. 1862 – Congress passes the Pacific Railroad Act – The Government gave massive land grants to railroad companies Grants 170 million acres of land to lay track on in the West – Authorized the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific Railroad Companies to build the transcontinental rail line. A rail line that spanned the entire continent. Linked Eastern economy with Western Economy.

3. 1867 – the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroad companies begin a race to lay track – The Central Pacific start in Sacramento and moved eastward Both companies hire Civil War Vets, Irish and Chinese immigrants, and African Americans to build the railroad – The Union Pacific started in Omaha Nebraska and laid track moving westward – Both companies had reached Utah by the summer of 1869 They met at Promontory Point

4. 1)The railroad companies established Standard Time a)This created 4 time zones in the United States. b)This allowed train companies to organize arrival and departure times in different parts of the country. 2)It encouraged more people to move West. 1)People could move west faster and hall their stuff easier. 2)Settlers could get necessities supplies like lumber, food, farm equipment and more by train.

5. 3) It linked the economies of the West and the East 4) Weaken the native American hold on the West. 1)Hunters on the train killed thousands of Buffalo. 2)Railroad companies and the settlers the railroads brought west laid claim to Native American land.

6. Think about the following questions. Jot your thoughts down in your note books. 1)How did the construction of the Transcontinental railroad and the Homestead Act effect the Native Americans? 2)How did the United States government get the land it granted to railroad companies and the Homesteaders from the Native Americans who had been living on the land for hundreds of years?