Pacific Railroad Act Teacher Resources

Students write an essay from rough draft to final copy about the Underground Railroad. Civil disobedience is researched from a variety of sources. There is a prewriting exercise that is included in the lesson. The whole writing process...

The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first race-based restriction on immigration in American history. Why was the act passed after Chinese immigrants helped build the Transcontinental Railroad? A series of documents, including speeches and...

In these American West worksheets, students cut out the cards related to the American West and the railroads. Students match the cards together.

Students investigate the impact of the Transcontinental Railroad. In this Transcontinental Railroad instructional activity, students research Internet and print sources regarding the effect of the railroad on Chinese immigrants and...

Delve into the nitty-gritty of American industrialization in the decades after the Civil War, a period which saw the introduction of a national currency, dramatic population and economic growth, and the birth of the first modern...

Populism and the rise and fall of the Populist Party are the topics of this presentation, which details the Presidential Election of 1896 and the role of silver. Detailing main points with clever political cartoons and informative maps,...

The critically acclaimed PBS series, "The West," provides the text of the actual Pacific Railway Act, designed to aid in the construction of a Railroad and Telegraph Line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean.

Contains images of the original document and a transcript of the complete text of the Pacific Railway Act of 1862 in an easy to read format. Also contains a brief overview on the background behind this act.

Short description of the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 from the National Park Service.

See a copy of the document that enacted legislation for the development of a transcontinental railroad. Included is the text of the document also.

This page from the Puget Sound Model Railroad Engineers is part of a larger railroad history site. Includes brief information about the history of the Union Pacific Railroad and other railroads, including a mention of the Pacific...

Here is the explanation of how the land grants given to the railroads through the Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 worked in the text from the General Land Office to the Department of the Interior.

From a lengthy essay on the history of the railroad in the United States. This section describes the competition between Union Pacific and Central Pacific to complete the transcontinental railroad. Workmanship was often shoddy and...

An extraordinarily rich collection of photos, stereographs, engravings, maps, and documents. Many 19th century accounts of building and traveling on the railroad, plus travel guides and government documents.

A brief history of the first transcontinental railroad and the vision of Theodore Judah as well as the financing of the "Big Four."

A compilation of primary source documents addressing building and running the railroad system in the late 19th century.

Two rival rail companies, led by Charles Crocker of the Central Pacific and Thomas Durant of the Union Pacific, will stop at nothing to best each other while competing to create the most ambitious engineering project the world has ever...

Find out about plans for a transcontinental railroad and surveys which plotted out possible routes. Part of a larger site on the history of railroads and maps.

Kids learn about the First Transcontinental Railroad. Fun facts about the route, the Union Pacific, and the Pacific Railroad Act are on this site.

This site from the Central Pacific Railroad provides an extensive and comprehensive article about surveying the route for the railroad, the problems with construction, and the men behind the idea of the railroad. Hyperlinks to additional...

This in-depth resource presents a history of the American West from pre-Columbian times until World War I with profiles, documents, and images. It encourages visitors to link these into patterns of historical meaning for themselves....

This site describes the settlement of the West happened quickly with the passage of the Homestead Act of 1862 and the push for the Transcontinental Railroad. With the explosion of the mining and ranching industries, the West was all but...

On this site you will find the application to the National Park Service to include the Bagg Bonanza Farm as a National Landmark. The first part describes what is found on the land now, but if you'll scroll through the history of...