What was one reason the United States government gave subsidies and land grants to railroad companies in the 1800s?
|
This act, passed on July 1, 1862, provided Federal subsidies in land and loans for the construction of a transcontinental railroad across the United States. Show
The question of "internal improvements" was frequently before Congress in the 19th century: Should Congress assist in improving the country’s transportation system? One such improvement was the dream of constructing a railroad that would cross the entire country. In the 1850s, Congress commissioned several topographical surveys across the West to determine the best route for a railroad, but private corporations were reluctant to undertake the task without Federal assistance. In 1862, Congress passed the Pacific Railway Act, which designated the 32nd parallel as the initial transcontinental route, and provided government bonds to fund the project and large grants of lands for rights-of-way. The Act aided in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean and secured the use of that line to the government. The legislation authorized two railroad companies, the Union Pacific and the Central Pacific, to construct the lines. Beginning in 1863, the Union Pacific, employing more than 8,000 Irish, German, and Italian immigrants, built west from Omaha, NE; the Central Pacific, whose workforce included over 10,000 Chinese laborers, built eastward from Sacramento, CA. Each company faced unprecedented construction problems, severe weather, and conflict with American Indians, whose ancestral lands were transected by the railroads. On May 10, 1869, the last rails were laid and the last spike was driven in during a ceremony at Promontory, UT. The completion of the transcontinental railroad shortened a journey of several months to about one week. Congress eventually authorized four transcontinental railroads and granted 174 million acres of public lands for rights-of-way. If you're seeing this message, it means we're having trouble loading external resources on our website. If you're behind a web filter, please make sure that the domains *.kastatic.org and *.kasandbox.org are unblocked.
Railroads, as private companies, needed to engage in profitable projects. So the federal government passed the Pacific Railroad Act that provided land grants to railroads. This provided public lands to railroad companies in exchange for building tracks in specific locations. The idea was that with railroad expansion in new territory, settlers would follow, establish communities, and increase the value of land. Railroads could sell their portions of land and profit from their investment. The federal government hoped the railroad profits would be reinvested for further expansion. The U.S. government provided the survey of public lands and divided them into one-mile square sections. The government kept a portion of the sections. The railroads received alternate sections, in a kind of checkerboard pattern. The government lands could be offered for homesteading or sold for a profit. Supporters of the land grants program believed it would be successful for all parties. Others were concerned about the relationship between the federal government and private companies. Most railroads provided service to specific regions, but they could profit from shipping goods to and from communities. Those who opposed the land grant program felt railroads were receiving too much of a subsidy. Between 1850 and 1870, seven percent of the land in the United States was given to 80 railroads; mostly in the west. Railroad companies were given one-sixth of the land in Kansas. Portions from The Kansas Journey. Entry: Railroad Land Grants Author: Kansas Historical Society Author information: The Kansas Historical Society is a state agency charged with actively safeguarding and sharing the state's history. Date Created: March 2011 Date Modified: March 2019 The author of this article is solely responsible for its content. 1876 Burlington & Missouri Riv. R.R. Co. and 1880 Union Pacific land grants At the same time that homesteaders were getting free land from the government, large tracts of land were granted to railroads by both the states and the federal government. The goal was to encourage the railroads to build their tracks where few people lived, and to help settle the country. The federal government was especially interested in creating a transportation system that would link the eastern and western coasts. Not only would a transcontinental railroad help populate the Great Plains, but it would tie the country together and also provide links to the potentially rich Asian trade. Legend from map showing Burlington & Missouri Riv. R.R. Co. lands in Nebraska, 1876 Approximately 16 percent of Nebraska’s total land mass was given to various railroad companies, either by the federal government or by the state. Along the lines of the state’s two major railroads, the Union Pacific and the Burlington, every other square mile of land (called a "section") went to the railroads. This checkerboard of land extended back twenty miles on both sides of the track.
So, the railroads owned a total of twenty sections of land for each mile of road constructed. Thousands of pioneers traveled to and through Nebraska in covered wagons. But after the first railroad was completed across the state in 1867, thousands more took the train to Nebraska. When the transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, people could travel from coast to coast quite comfortably. The Oregon Trail was gradually abandoned. Railroads encouraged settlers to move to Nebraska and had a tremendous impact on settlement. Cochran’s Railroad construction (Burlington & Missouri River Railroad) Camp, West of Sargent, Custer County,
1889 Why Buy Land When It’s Free?Through the settlement years, there were four major laws that made land available to settlers for free — the Preemption Act of 1841, the Homestead Act of 1862 , the Timber Culture Act of 1873, and the Kinkaid Act of 1904. Some settlers paid $15 in filing fees for a homestead with free land. But, other settlers bought and paid for land from the railroads that were charging around $800 for 160-acre farm. Why did they do that when they could have had land for free? For one thing, the railroads had more to gain, so they advertised. Once the railroads had located and patented their land, they were very anxious to sell the land beside the tracks as quickly and profitably as possible. They wanted paying customers who would ship goods to markets and buy things from those markets. The closer a farmer was to the railroad, the easier it was to ship crops and livestock to market. Land agents were hired by the railroads and sent to major cities in the East and to most northern and central European countries. They flooded those places with advertisements about the valuable land in the West and especially in Nebraska. If you were interested, the railroad would put you on a special land-seeking train. If you decided to buy, the price of the train ticket would be applied to the price of the land.  1876 Burlington & Missouri Riv. R.R. Co. land grants in Nebraska Together, the Burlington and Union Pacific Railroads had sold more than 7 million acres to private purchasers. Over 9.6 million acres was obtained free of charge under the Homestead Act. The railroads did not abandon settlers after they sold them the land. They supported agricultural improvement programs that would help make farmers more successful. This would create more need for their transportation services. The more the farmers succeeded, the more the railroads succeeded. And as the railroads grew, they played a huge role in the politics, economy and history of Nebraska. The railroads played a key role in the settlement of Nebraska. More than 11 railroads in Nebraska received money or free land from both the federal and state governments. Yet in 1915 there were more miles of railroad in Nebraska than there are today. What happened? There are a variety of reasons for the dramatic change in the fortunes of the railroads. The biggest factor is that transportation technology overtook the trains. In 1915 there were no paved highways and few cars and trucks. Almost everyone traveled by train. Today most people travel by automobile or airplane. Trucks today haul much more freight than railroads. There has been a lot of consolidation of smaller railroad companies into large companies like the Union Pacific. The railroad still plays an important role in hauling coal, grain, and other freight, but it does not have the monopoly it enjoyed during the homestead era when people had no choice when it came to transporting themselves or their products. Discussion Questions:Why did the Federal Government want to create a transportation system that would connect the east coast with the west coast? What was the effect of this transportation system on the Oregon and Mormon trails? Why did the settlers prefer to purchase their land near the railroads? How did the railroad promote the settlement of Nebraska? What railroads received free land in Nebraska from the U.S. Government? Why would the U.S. Government grant free land to the railroads? What did railroads do with the land they did not use for railroad construction? Why would Nebraska settlers pay for land sold by a railroad when they could obtain free land Why did the US government give land grants to railroad companies?At the same time that homesteaders were getting free land from the government, large tracts of land were granted to railroads by both the states and the federal government. The goal was to encourage the railroads to build their tracks where few people lived, and to help settle the country.
What incentives did the federal government give to railroad companies to build?To encourage development of rail lines westward, the government offered railroad companies massive land grants and bonds. Railroads received millions of acres of public lands and sold that land to generate money for the construction of the railroads.
How and why did the federal government aid the companies building the railroad?Receiving millions of acres of public lands from Congress, the railroads were assured land on which to lay the tracks and land to sell, the proceeds of which helped companies finance the construction of their railroads. Not all railroads were built with government assistance, however.
What did railroad companies do with the land grants they received from the government?[18] Usually the companies received from the federal government, in twenty- or fifty-mile strips, alternate sections of public land for each mile of track that was built. Responsibility for surveying and mapping the grants fell to the U.S. General Land Office, now the Bureau of Land Management.
|
