Format
1. Students will be introduced to the idea of the transcontinental railroad and what Americans hoped to gain from its construction
2. Students will review possible routes and learn about construction methods relating to the railroads in the 19th century
3. Students will learn about the lasting impact of the construction of the railroad line
4. Question and answer session
Objectives
The participant will:
- analyze primary sources on the construction of the transcontinental railroad
- model construction techniques common with the construction of a railroad line in the 19th century
- engage in a discussion about the impacts of the construction of the transcontinental railroad
Standards Alignment
National Standards
NSS-USH.5-12.6 ERA 6:
The Development of the Industrial United States (1870-1900)
- Understands how the rise of corporations, heavy industry, and mechanized farming transformed the American people
- Understands massive immigration after 1870 and how new social patterns, conflicts, and ideas of national unity developed amid growing cultural diversity
- Understands the rise of the American labor movement and how political issues reflected social and economic changes
- Understands Federal Indian policy and United States foreign policy after the Civil War
State Standards
South Carolina Social Studies
5-2.1
Analyze the geographic and economic factors that influenced westward expansion and the ways that these factors affected travel and settlement, including physical features of the land; the climate and natural resources; and land ownership and other economic opportunities.
5-2.2
Summarize how technologies (such as railroads, the steel plow and barbed wire), federal policies (such as subsidies for the railroads and the Homestead Act), and access to natural resources affected the development of the West.
5-2.3
Identify examples of conflict and cooperation between occupational and ethnic groups in the West, including miners, farmers, ranchers, cowboys, Mexican and African Americans, and European and Asian immigrants.
5-2.4
Explain the social and economic effects of westward expansion on Native Americans; including opposing views on land ownership, Native American displacement, the impact of the railroad on the culture of the Plains Indians, armed conflict, and changes in federal policy.
5-3.1
Explain how the Industrial Revolution was furthered by new inventions and technologies, including new methods of mass production and transportation and the invention of the light bulb, the telegraph, and the telephone.