Before the railroad was built, people in the past walked, boated, or had a wagon and a horse to get around. But when the gold rush started, many husbands traveled west, hoping to find some gold. The gold rush was in the west, so the people who were in the east had trouble getting to the west. The people in the east had to cross a desert before they could reach the west and the gold rush so the progress was very slow. Just imagine being in the endless desert, it will be a terribly long distance which was bad for the citizens in the East.
Americans wanted to expand the country and have the west because that first gold rush was in the West so more Americans could be in the west. Also, the West had good sources of finding gold, silver, and other valuable minerals or iron like copper or jewels. This might be why the gold rush started in the west instead of other places or countries. Second, the US population was growing, so Americans sometimes just needed a little bit more space just to have for themselves. There are some cities in the wild west right now like the Dead Wood in South Dakota, or TomeStone in Arizona. These were all cities right in the wild west.
Many people suffered trying to get through the desert in order to get to the west, so Theodore had a dream to unite the east and west with the first transcontinental railroad. One day in 1863, there were workers building a railroad. There were not just a few workers, there were about 20,000 workers hard at work, and the money for the supplies and all the workers was approximately 48 million dollars ($48000000). All this money was paid by the Federal Government, Private Investors, and Local Governments. All this hard work ended on May 10,1869, after the railroad was finished.
The railroad also gave us plenty of benefits like first, the railroad united us. People got around fast, which led to another benefit: people didn't miss family traditions or just family time. Getting around fast was also great because traveling slowly could waste water and food. We didn't have to be tired because we were on a train and there were seats. Not only that, but people could get to places on time, although traveling through the desert can have an unpredictable time, while trains might take just one hour to one day. These were some of the benefits that we got from having a railroad.
The railroad was a huge benefit to all citizens. At first, there were no railways, so citizens sometimes suffered while trying to get to the west. Then, all of a sudden, the gold rush started, and many citizens wanted to get to the west to find gold. Many people had a hard time trying to get to the west. One day the railroad we all know today was starting to be built. There were thousands of workers, and when the railroad was finally complete, the citizens had a better time getting to their destinations. This is surely a great article which is worth reading.
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