Chapter 5 Section 2

Section Questions - Page 193 #1-5

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Identify1. Explain the significance of: Pacific Railway Act,

Grenville Dodge, Leland Stanford, Cornelius Vanderbilt, time zone, land grant, Jay Gould, Crédit Mobilier, James J. Hill.

Pacific Railway Act – signed by President Lincoln in 1862; provided for the construction of a transcontinental railroad by two corporations; each company was offered land along its right-of-way

Grenville Dodge – engineer who pushed the Union Pacific westward from Omaha, Nebraska in 1865

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Identify1. Explain the significance of: Leland Stanford, Cornelius

Vanderbilt, time zone, land grant, Jay Gould, Crédit Mobilier, James J. Hill.

Leland Stanford – a grocer who bought stock in the Central Pacific Railroad company, made a huge fortune, became governor of California, U.S. senator, and founded Stanford University

Cornelius Vanderbilt – one of the most successful railroad consolidators; by 1869, formed the New York Central, within four years controlled lines all the way to Chicago; began building New York’s Grand Central Terminal in 1871

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Identify1. Explain the significance of: time zone, land grant,

Jay Gould, Crédit Mobilier, James J. Hill.

time zone – a geographical region in which the same standard time is kept

land grant – a grant of land by the federal government especially for roads, railroads, or agricultural colleges

Jay Gould – the most notoriously corrupt railroad owner, became infamous for manipulating stock

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Identify1. Explain the significance of: Crédit Mobilier, James J. Hill.

Crédit Mobilier – a construction company set up by several stockholders of the Union Pacific Railroad; investors signed contracts with themselves and greatly overcharged Union Pacific, making millions

James J. Hill – built and operated the Great Northern Railroad from Minnesota to Washington state; offered low fares to customers and hauled popular goods both east and west making it the only railroad not forced into bankruptcy

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Main Ideas2. Describing How did Grenville Dodge contribute to the

economic growth of the United States in the late 1800s?

He supervised the Union Pacific’s westward expansion

3. Organizing Use a graphic organizer similar to the one below to list the different ways by which railroads were financed.

Ways Railroads

Were Financed

land grants

private investment

gifts of public land to railroads

money generated by running the

railroads

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Critical Thinking4. Big Ideas How did railroad expansion lead to industrial

growth?

Railroads increased the markets for many products and great amounts of money were spent on resources

5. Theorizing Why might politicians be tempted to accept gifts of railroad stock? Why did Crédit Mobilier become a scandal?

To gain money and influence It was a scandal because investors made millions of

dollars, but the railroad was nearly bankrupt. To receive further grants from Congress, members of Congress were bribed with shares of the Union Pacific at below market value.