Vocabulary
Communication
The Railroad
Part I
The Railroad
Part II
Grab Bag
100
What do you call sharing information with other people?
Communication
100
What made communication between California and the rest of the nation difficult?
Cut off by mountains, deserts, many miles apart, etc.
100
What group was mostly responsible for building the railroad?
Chinese immigrants
100
This railroad stretched across the continent which means it was what kind of railroad?
Transcontinental
100
How did the railroad affect California?
Transportation was faster, more people went to California, trade increased, etc.
200
What do you call a way of moving people and goods?
Transportation
200
What was the only way to communicate between California and the eastern United States in 1850?
By mail
200
What did the Chinese do to try to improve their working conditions? AND Did it improve their working conditions?
They went on strike for a week and nothing was changed.
200
Each man in the "Big Four" is an example of a what? (Someone who puts money into a business in the hope of earning more money in the future)
An investor
200
A speech by WHOM was the first message sent on the telegraph lines that linked California to the rest of the United States?
Abraham Lincoln
300
What do you call a system that uses electrical signals to send messages over wires?
A telegraph
300
Why were telegraph wires used to and from California? (How did they change communication?)
Telegraph wires were the quickest way to send messages to and from California.
300
Who laid the last section of track of the railroad and WHY?
Eight Chinese immigrant workers laid the last section of track to honor the work of immigrants.
300
Why was the railroad difficult to build?
The track had to be level - which meant tunnels had to be built through hills and bridges across valleys
300
Why do you think two companies worked together to build the railroad instead of just one?
They would work faster competing against each other, the railroad would be built more quickly, etc.
400
What do you call it when workers stop doing their jobs to protest working conditions or to get higher pay?
A strike
400
What services used horses to improve communication with California?
The Overland Mail Company and the Pony Express
400
What two companies built the railroad?
Central Pacific (Railroad) Company & Union Pacific (Railroad) Company
400
What did the "Big Four" do?
These four investors (Stanford, Crocker, Huntington, Hopkins) invested their money to help build the railroad.
400
Why do you think the two companies built the railroad beginning in two different cities instead of both starting in the same city?
It meant each company could do half the work to complete the railroad, it would connect these two cities much more quickly, etc.
500
What do you call someone who designs and builds things?
An engineer
500
How did the national government help improve communication to and from California?
They passed the Overland California Mail Act which set aside money to create faster mail service to and from California.
500
How did Congress (the national government) help improve transportation to and from California?
They passed the Pacific Railway Act which set aside money to build the railroad.
500
How were the two lines of railroad tracks that came from both cities joined together?
Leland Stanford used a silver hammer to drive a golden spike into the railroad officially joining them together.
500
Who actually sent the first telegraph message and invented the code used in these kinds of messages?
Samuel F.B. Morse
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