Transcontinental Railroad

The Transcontinental Railroad stretched from Missouri to California. The railroad was built by two companies, the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific. It took them three years to finish the Transcontinental Railroad. Book source.

The idea of building a transcontinental railroad was first proposed by the transcontinental Railroad was built by the Cental Pacific and Union companies. The Transcontinental Railroad began to undergo construction in Omaha, Nebraska (Book source) and, when finished, ran from Missouri to California. The railroad was finished at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869.

Many of the people who worked on the railroad were Chinese. Book Source. "The first Chinese were hired in 1865 at approximately $28 per month to do the very dangerous work of blasting and laying ties over the Sierras." Source. By 1868, a year before the railroads were finished, two thirds of the workers hired were Chinese.

The Transcontinental Railroads aided people in transportation across America. This would normally take somebody around six months to accomplish. However, the Chinese-Americans would still have to face hardships, even though they had worked willingly for lower pay. The railroads also, "created the skeletal structure of the Western transportation system." Source.


The Transcontinental Railroad ran from Missouri to California. The railroads were finished on May 10, 1869. A great effort was put into this project by the Chinese, although they were discriminated against while working on the railroad and after it was finished.

1893 World's Faire and the Guilded Age

During the Gilded Age, industry was at its peak. During the World's Fair in 1893, over half a billion dollars was spent to build a magnificent white city that covered six hundred eighty six acres.

During the Gilded Age industry skyrocketed. "Between 1872 and1880, for example, the Singer Sewing Machine Company increased production from 220,000 to 500,000 units annually." (Book Source). The transportation in this age improved do to the increase of the production of iron and steel.

The World's Fair took place in Chicago in 1893, and was called the White City. The buildings of this fair was amazing. The World's Fair was a very grand example of the Gilded Age because the Gilded Age was a time of industrial greatness, and the World's Fair was a time of great architecture.


The World's Fair in Chicago was called the White City because of the buildings' color, not by the purity of the people in it. There is some irony to the White City, because of all the crime that took place during its time. (Book source). I think this idea of rabid crime within this city is important for people to see so that they may grasp the idea that when people inhabit cities in large numbers it is more likely for people to get killed because it's so easy to hide in a big city.


The World fair is such a grand example of the Gilded Age, which was a time of great industry, because of the amazing buildings that were built and the architecture of that time. However, there was a massive amount of crime during the World Fair, and in the White City, which is somewhat ironic. (Book source).

Radical Reconstruction

The Radical Reconstruction plan was made by president Andrew Johnson. The Radical Reconstruction was Johnson's attempt to carry on and finish what the former President Lincoln had started.


President Andrew Johnson's Radical Reconstruction plan was meant to excuse those who took the oath of loyalty. If a wealthy Southerner or an important Confederate official wanted a pardon, they would have to personally request it from the president. If a state wanted to reenter the Union they would have to give their consent to the thirteenth amendment and then deny their war debts. However, not everybody agreed to Johnson's Radical Reconstruction plan. The Radical Republicans and a few Northerners strongly disagreed with Johnson's plan.

It is not surprising that the Radical Republicans didn't want the Confederate states to be able to be so easily pardoned. It makes sense that they would want some sort of punishment to be brought upon the Confederates because most of them, if not all, supported the Confederate troops, who were killing the soldiers belonging to the Union side, during the war. There is also the feeling that justice needed to be served when another person does wrong to you, that the Radical Republicans most likely felt. The Radical Republicans were very much against slavery.
(to be continued)