exoansion and immigration

Year Established: 1862
Purpose: Charter the Central Pacific and Union Pacific Railroad Companies to construct a transcontinental railroad linking the United States from east to west.
Duration: Construction spanned seven years, with the two companies racing from:
- Starting Point for Central Pacific: Sacramento, California
- Starting Point for Union Pacific: Omaha, Nebraska
Meeting Point: Promontory, Utah on May 10, 1869.

First Steam Locomotive: Debuted in 1830.
Expansion of Railroads: By 1850, approximately 9,000 miles of railroad tracks had been constructed east of the Missouri River.

Migration Trends: There was significant westward migration, particularly after gold was discovered in California in 1848.
Difficulties of Overland Journey: Migrants faced risks across mountains, plains, rivers, and deserts. Many chose long sea routes, such as:
- Cape Horn Route: A six-month journey around South America.
- Panama Route: Risked diseases like yellow fever crossing the Isthmus of Panama.

Central Pacific's Construction Plan:
- Built eastward across the Sierra Nevada.
Union Pacific's Construction Plan:
- Built westward from the Missouri River (near Iowa-Nebraska border).
Land and Financial Incentives:
- Each company received 6,400 acres of land (later increased to 12,800 acres) and $48,000 in government bonds for each mile of track laid.
Competitive Nature: The project was competitive from the start.

The “Big Four”:
- Members: Charles Crocker, Leland Stanford, Collis Huntington, Mark Hopkins.
- Background: None had prior experience with railroads, engineering, or construction.
- Financial Strategies: Borrowed heavily and exploited legal loopholes to maximize governmental funding.
Judah: Initially involved in the project but died from yellow fever in 1863 while attempting to recruit new investors.

Dr. Thomas Durant:
- Acquired controlling interest in Union Pacific illegally, which led to total authority over the project.
- Created Crédit Mobilier, guaranteeing investors risk-free profits.

Conflicts and Delays: Work halted during the Civil War until 1865; project ramped up under General Grenville Dodge in 1866.
Native American Resistance: The Union Pacific suffered attacks by tribes such as Sioux, Arapaho, and Cheyenne, who opposed territorial encroachment.
Labor Issues:
- Central Pacific: Faced labor shortages due to difficult conditions; began hiring Chinese immigrants (around 50,000 present on the West Coast by 1865).
- Chinese Workers: Hired under brutal conditions, with about 14,000 working in the Sierra Nevada by early 1867.
- Union Pacific Workers: Primarily Irish immigrants and Civil War veterans.

Central Pacific Methods:
- Built wooden trestles and utilized explosives, like gunpowder and nitroglycerine, for tunneling through granite in mountains.
Comparison of Progress: Union Pacific made rapid advancements across the plains; Central Pacific faced delays through mountainous terrain.
- By June 1867, the Union Pacific was in Wyoming, having completed much more ground.
- Central Pacific broke through mountains in late June 1867.

Final Stretch:
- By early 1869, both companies were near completion, and President Ulysses S. Grant withheld federal funds until agreement on the meeting point.
- This resulted in Promontory Summit being chosen as the meeting point, about 690 track-miles from Sacramento and 1,086 from Omaha.
Golden Spike Ceremony: On May 10, 1869:
- A crowd witnessed the completion ceremony and the driving of the final spike made from 17.6-karat gold, gifted by David Hewes.
- Ceremony Highlights:
- Leland Stanford’s attempt to drive the spike missed the target.
- The final spike was driven by a railroad worker at 12:47 PM.
- Aftermath: The golden spike was replaced post-ceremony with traditional iron spikes.
- Notable artifacts: Three ceremonial ties presented include one of gold, one silver and gold, and one silver.
Current Location of Golden Spike: Stanford University collection.

Legislation Details:
- Instituted a 10-year ban on Chinese laborers immigrating to the U.S.
- Required non-laborers seeking entry to obtain certification.
- Defined laborers broadly to include many, complicating immigration processes for Chinese individuals.
- Denied citizenship rights to Chinese residents while allowing deportation.
Geary Act: Extended the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1892, adding further restrictions on Chinese residents, who needed to register and obtain certificates of residence.

Context: An informal arrangement between the United States and Japan to reduce immigration tensions.
Terms:
- U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt to compel San Francisco to repeal segregation policies in exchange for Japan restricting passport issuance to laborers.
- Allowed family members of current immigrants to enter.
Japanese Immigration Trends:
- Began in earnest post-1868 with changes in Japanese emigration policies.
- Japanese immigrants primarily settled on the Pacific Coast, working low-wage labor jobs.
Discriminatory Challenges: Overlapping patterns of discrimination parallel to those faced by Chinese immigrants, including exclusion from unions and negative media campaigns.

Practice Description: Arranged marriages allowed male Japanese immigrants to bring female partners from Japan legally through photo-selection, known as "picture brides."
Demographics: Over 10,000 Japanese women immigrated to the U.S. until 1924 and over 15,000 to Hawaii.
Significance: Japanese immigrants represented roughly 1% of California’s population at the time.