Westward Expansion Essay

The most underrated factor of westward expansion would have to be the railroad. Many would think of the most important factor as the gold rush of 1848, but before mass droves of people could move westward, an easier way of traveling had to be constructed and railroads were the answer. Before railways, the Oregon Trail lead people from major cities like Independence, Missouri to Oregon City or Sacramento in Oregon and California. This ‘train’ of sorts moved as low as 350,000 people across America on this famous wagon route between 1841 and 1866. By 1869, the transcontinental railroads such as the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific had been built after the Pacific Railway Bill had been passed in 1862. The Union Pacific was built westward from
The population amount in Oregon almost doubled by the 1870’s with a huge population of 90,923. No longer would the settlers have to reach the Great West by traveling over four and a half months on tough terrain, enduring harsh winters or hot summers, and burying the dead loved ones from the then-fatal illnesses. With the railroad, people could travel to Sacramento from Omaha within five days instead of over four months as it was while riding the Oregon trail. Westward expansion was heavily influenced by the construction of a transcontinental railroad. “The number of miles of U.S. railroads increased from less than 10,000 miles to more than 350,000 miles between 1850 and 1910.” Railroads developed the capacity to create routes, go over rivers and canyons, tunnel through mountains, and ascent over hills. For railways to be put in place, forests, national parks, and animal species had to be destroyed in order for westward expansion to happen. The creation of these structures may have made a huge impact on westward expansion, but it also made a huge impact on the degradation of the