The railroad, a symbol of both progress and peril, spurred rapid and far-reaching changes in late nineteenth century American society. Supported by government funds, railroad building boomed after the Civil War. There were only 2,000 miles of track in 1850; by 1877 there were nearly 80,000 miles in use. Crossing the wilderness, carrying people and freight at unheard-of speeds, the railroads changed the ways Americans thought and lived. As distant cities and towns were linked together, Americans increasingly identified themselves as citizens of a whole nation, not merely a single state. For the first time, people in different parts of the country could read the same news and buy the same products. Such basic concepts as time and distance took on new meanings: in 1883, the railroads forced America to adopt its first national time zones. The railroads accelerated the pace of the Industrial Revolution. New technologies, such as machine building and iron and steel production, advanced to meet the demands of railroad growth. By providing cheaper and faster freight delivery, the railroads helped create a new national market.
While the completion of the transcontinental railroad paved the way for exponential growth in the population and economy of the West and the nation, it also caused significant harm to many people. The first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869. Over the next twenty years, railroads carried farmers and ranchers who settled on the Great Plains, soldiers who fought to claim Indigenous territories for the United States, and hunters who killed buffalo for sport and profit. The farmers, ranchers, soldiers, and buffalo hunters, together with businessmen who came to develop the West's mineral and lumber resources, violently disrupted Great Plains Native nations and their way of life.
Working men and women were crucial to the growth of the railroads and the new industrial system, but they shared in few of its rewards. Railway workers labored an average of 12 hours a day, six days a week. Sometimes they worked 16 to 20 hours without a rest. Their average wage was $2.50 a day. Railroad work was difficult and dangerous, and in 1877 a nationwide rebellion of railroad workers brought the United States to a standstill. Eighty thousand railroad workers walked out, joined by hundreds of thousands of Americans outraged by the excesses of the railroad companies and the misery of a four-year economic depression. Police, state militia, and federal troops clashed with strikers and sympathizers, leaving more than one hundred dead and thousands injured.
This worksheet aligns to Common Core Literacy Standards in History/Social Studies:
RHSS.6-8.1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
These worksheets align to the following Common Core Literacy Standards in History/Social Studies:
RHSS.6-8.2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.  Â
WHSS.6-8.2. Write informative/explanatory texts.
RHSS.6-8.1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources.
RHSS.6-8.6. Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author's point of view or purpose.
WHSS.6-8.1 Write arguments focused on discipline-specific content.
Step 1. Hand out the 1877 Viewer’s Guide and have a student(s) read the 3 paragraphs of text on page 1 under “What was ‘The Great Strike’ of 1877?” Tell students that they are going to watch a clip from a documentary about the causes of this national uprising.
Hand out the 1877 Vocabulary list and review with the class.
Step 2. Play the 1877 clip (1:50-7:02) once to provide an overview of the transcontinental railroad. Ask students to think about the overall tone of this documentary (ie. what is the attitude of this film towards the railroad during the Gilded Age?).
Discuss why the tone sounds more critical than positive:
• told from the perspective of workers rather than builders
• is challenging a “triumphant” view of the railroad
Step 3. Hand out the Technological Turning Points worksheet and 1877 script. Ask students, working individually or in small groups, to check off any of the effects that they think apply to the railroad (using Part 1 of the worksheet). They may use the 1877 script as a reference.
Review the Part 1 list with the whole group. With the possible exception of “Allows for greater participation in democracy,” all of the items could be checked. For the less obvious effects, have students explain their reasoning.
Tell students to complete Part II of the worksheet individually. Then, with a partner, they should identify:
• the top 2 positive effects and top 2 negative effects
• who benefited the most, and who was harmed the most
Share out group responses.
You may need to review the following points if they do not come up in discussion:
• main positive effects included new jobs, easier to communicate and travel, boost to national pride
• main negative effects included railroad owners get too much political power which leads to corruption; the railroad widens the gap between haves and have nots, and makes only a small group of people wealthy; workers are treated badly
• railroad owners benefited the most; Native Americans, railroad workers, Chinese workers were among those who benefited the least.
Step 4. Tell students that you are going to play the clip for a second time. Ask a third of the class to listen for the point of view of the railroad owners, a third for the role of state and federal governments, and a third for the point of view of railroad workers. Play clip (1:50-7:02) again.
Share out discussion on railroad owners, the government, and railroad workers.
Ask follow up questions as needed:
• Who was the railroad supposed to benefit? [claim that it would “benefit all citizens”]
• What assistance did the government give railroads? [land, money, tax breaks, political influence]
• Why did workers go on strike in 1877?
MAJOR THEMES
Workers and Working conditions
• August 11, 13, 16 (pages 16-17, 19-20)
• September 18, 20 (pages 33-36)
• November 9, 29 (pages 48-49, 54-56)
• April 1, 5 (page 67-68)
• May 3 (page 71)
• November 14 (page 100)
• December 26 (pages 116-117)
• April 9 (pages 138)
Tension between immigrant groups
• October 26-28 (pages 45-46)
• September 1 (page 88)
• October 27 (pages 98-99)
• March 9, March 11-24 (pages 132, 134-36)
• April 28 (page 141-42)
• May 10 (pages 146-149)
Boomtowns
• August 8 (pages 9-10)
• September 21 (page 37)
• November 18, 15 (pages 50-51)
• March 7 (pages 129-30)
• May 20, 21 (pages 154, 156)
Corporate and government corruption
• August 29 (page 30)
• December 5 (page 56)
• November 3, 19, 23 (pages 100, 103-05, 107)
• January 8 (page 122)
• February 29 (pages 126-27)
• March 10 (page 133)
• April 10 (pages 138-39)
• May 6, 8, 19 (pages 145, 146, 153-54)
• Epilogue (pages 166-70)
MINOR THEMES
Conflict with Great Plains Indian tribes
• August 6, 7, 17 (pages 3-7, 20-21)
• April 24 (page 71)
• July 27 (page 82)
• May 21 (pages 156-57)
• Drawings (pages 171, 176)
The Natural Environment
• August 18, 28 (pages 22-23, 29-30)
• January 14 (page 59)
• Feb 13 (page 62)
• March 25 (page 66)
• May 21, 20 (pages 155, 157)
Living conditions of railroad builders
• August 8 (page 9)
• September 21 (page 37)
• November 18 (page 50)
• May 20 (page 154-55)
Transportation and technology
• August 7 (page 6)
• October 15 (pages 92-94)
• December 4 (page 109)
• June 8 (page 120)
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
“Life in America in 1867” (Historical Notes, Images and Maps)
• Map of transcontinental railroad route (page181)
• Drawings of Indians, showing conflict with railroad (pages 171, 176)
• Photographs of historical figures and railroad workers, prints of railroad construction, boom towns, and living conditions the book (pp. 171-79)
Students will understand the experiences of Union Pacific railroad workers who built the transcontinental railroad in the Great Plains (Nebraska, Wyoming, Utah).
Students will understand the immediate effects of railroad construction on workers, Indians, settlers, and railroad owners.
Students will understand how and why the transcontinental railroad was a turning point in U.S. history by examining its effects.
This activity supports the following Common Core Literacy Standards in History/Social Studies:
RHSS.6-8.1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources. Â
RHSS.6-8.2. Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an accurate summary of the source distinct from prior knowledge or opinions.Â
RHSS.6-8.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.
RHSS.6-8.6. Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author's point of view or purpose.
Step 1: Explain that the narrator and main character of this book is a fictional teenager named Sean Sullivan. Read aloud the entry “August 7, End of Track†(The Journal of Sean Sullivan, pp. 5-6) until the paragraph on page 6 ending in “in case of an Indian attack.â€Â
Ask students to summarize Sean’s general mood and feelings (excitement, nervousness, uncertainty). Have students reread the entry on their own and write down all the words and phrases related to nature and transportation and circle terms that they do not know.Â
Responses might include:Â
• Transportation: track, train, railroad towns, covered wagons, Oregon Trail, “prairie schooners,†sailing, mile, car, “excursionists,†“cowcatchers, pilots, station
• Nature: prairie, grass, wildflower, breeze, buffalo herd, animals
Hand out Vocabulary for the Journal of Sean Sullivan worksheet. Students should look review the definition of any of the unfamiliar vocabulary terms they circled earlier.Â
• (Optional) If you would like to focus on metaphors, ask students, whether or not a “Cowcatcher†is a person or a thing. Then, ask them to search for an image of a “Cowcatcher†online. Alternatively, show them a picture of a “Cowcatcher†(the front grill of a train).Â
Wrap up by discussing: “Based on this journal entry, what is the setting of the story?†Responses might include:Â
• End of the Track, Nebraska, Kearney, Great Plains
• the prairie, buffalo herds • end of the Oregon Trail and beginning of the railroad • men shooting buffalo, “Excursionists†[Common Core Reading Standards for Grade 5: Standard 4, 6]Â
Step 2: Explain that the novel contains a number of themes, or big ideas, about the building of the railroad that they will explore in “Theme Teams.†Divide the class into small groups of 2-4, and assign each group a theme (you will probably need to assign the same theme to more than one team).Â
Themes: (1) work and working conditions of railroad builders (2) tension among and between immigrant groups (3) corruption of railroad companies (4) conflict with Great Plains Indians (5) boomtownsÂ
Step 3: Handout the five Themes in The Journal of Sean Sullivan worksheets to the appropriate groups.Â
Teams should:Â
• Read the pages listed on their worksheet and then complete the reading questions and tasks in Part 1 as a team. [Common Core Reading Standards for Grade 5: Standard 1, 2, 4].
• Teams should add any unfamiliar vocabulary words and their definitions to the vocabulary list which you handed out in Step 1.Â
• Each theme worksheet includes a writing task in Part 2 that highlights a different historical perspective on the railroad. Students should complete this task on their own. [Common Core Reading Standards for Grade 5: Standard 6]Â
Step 4: After “Theme Teams†complete their worksheet and individual writing tasks, ask for volunteers to read their writing tasks to the class. You should try to cover at least three different themes/historical perspectives.Â
Discuss:Â
• What are some of the hardships that people faced during the building of the transcontinental railroad?Â
• How did various groups respond to these difficulties?Â
Step 5: For homework, assign the “Historical Note†chapter at the end of the book (pp. 163-70) and handout the “Technological Turning Points and their Impact†worksheet. Students should complete the worksheet using the information provided in the assigned reading.
bonnet: women’s hat
butte: a hill with steep sides and a flat top
caboose: the last car on a train with eating and sleeping rooms
coupling pin: a pin or bolt that connects one train car to another
cowcatchers (also known as the pilot): a metal device or set of rails attached to the front of the train to clear the tracks
depot: a railroad station or stop
dignitaries: people of importance
“Excursionists”: people who came west solely as tourists
gorge: deep rocky valley
handcar: small railroad car that consists of an arm like a seesaw which operators push down and pull up to move the car
“heathens”: a negative term for someone who is not a believer in God. Used as a way to describe Chinese immigrants.
maul: a hammer used to drive the spike onto a tie
Oregon Trail: a route used by settlers going from western Missouri to Oregon before the railroad was built
“Paddy”: negative term for Irish workers, probably short for Patrick, a common Irish name
pick and shovel: two tools used to break up the ground, a pick is sharp on both edges, a shovel allows you to pick up dirt
“Prairie Schooner”: a covered wagon used by settlers going west
ruffians: people who behave in a rough or violent way
sod hut: home made from dried squares of prairie grass
spike: large nail used to construct railroad tracks
stovepipe hat: tall tube-shaped man’s hat
survey: to make a map of an area
tie: large pieces of wood that support the rails
transcontinental railroad: a railroad that crosses and connects a continent
trestle: a system of support built to allow a train to go over a river or gap
Additional Vocabulary
Write down any additional words that you do not know the meaning of, and then look up their definitions and add them here.
This worksheet aligns to Common Core Literacy Standards in History/Social Studies:
RHSS.6-8.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary specific to domains related to history/social studies.
amassed: accumulated
anvil: a heavy metal block used by blacksmiths to hammer out other metal
brakeman: railroad worker who operates, repairs, or inspects train brakes
centennial exposition: celebration to mark the 100th anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence
corporate: having to do with large companies or “big business”
cylindric: shaped like a tube
dividends: money paid to people who own stock in a company
domination: complete control
emblem: a symbol of some idea or thing
flocked: gathered in a group
Great Uprising: national strike by 80,000 railroad workers, also known as the Great Strike of 1877
manipulated: controlled or influenced, usually to one’s own benefit
militia: military force of civilians that supports regular army, especially in an emergency
resilience: the ability to recover quickly from illness or misfortune
sultry: hot and damp
spike: large nail used to construct railroad tracks
territorial expansion: adding new lands to an existing country, often by force
transcontinental railroad: a railroad that crosses and connects a continent
This is a partial script, for chapters on "The Centennial Exposition" and "The Railroad" in the documentary 1877: The Grand Army of Starvation produced by the American Social History Project/Center for Media and Learning. In bold are vocabulary words defined on a vocabulary sheet linked to this script.
[1876]
NARRATOR:
Philadelphia. One hundred years after America declared its independence…its citizens flocked to the centennial exposition. Thousands gathered to mark the republic's resilience following a bitter civil war…
They came to admire the country's technological triumphs…and its territorial expansion.
At the center of this century of progress…the American railway system. The railroad had promised to unite the one divided nation…and benefit all citizens. Chinese and Irish immigrants as well as Civil War veterans were set to work as the country enthusiastically committed itself to railroad construction.
AMERICAN WORKER #1:
When me and my mates get our sturdy sledge hammers going, we make a kinda grand anvil chorus 'cross the plains. Three strokes to a spike; ten spikes to a rail. Let's see…I've got it figured out…400 rails to a mile. 1800 miles to bloody San Francisco. That makes, by my reckonin', some 20 million or so times we'll swing these sledges before this great work of modern America is done.
NARRATOR:
In 1869 the Golden Spike was finally hammered into place. The transcontinental railroad system unified America. The poet Walt Whitman sang its praises:
Thy black cylindric body, golden brass and silvery steel…
Type of the modern—emblem of motion and power—pulse of the continent
The railroad connected farm lands…towns…cities. It moved goods, information, and people. In ten short years railroad mileage doubled. Federal and state governments sponsored railroad expansion, giving the railroads nearly 200 million acres of public land as well as millions of dollars in loans and tax breaks. Railroad owners, notably New York Central president Cornelius Vanderbilt, amassed staggering wealth. His son William inherited $100 million upon Vanderbilt's death in 1877.
In that year of economic depression, a decent day's wage was a dollar fifty. Railroad owners' wealth translated into unimagined power. Tom Scott ran the Pennsylvania Railroad, the nation's largest business enterprise. From his Philadelphia headquarters, Scott controlled the lives of workers and communities across the country. He manipulated state and federal legislatures and even presidential elections. Such domination led Charles Francis Adams, son and grandson of Presidents, to observe:
C.F. ADAMS:
The system of corporate life is a new power for which our language contains no name; we have no word to express government by monied corporations.
NARRATOR:
In June, Scott, Vanderbilt and other executives secretly met. They agreed to cut their employees' wages even as they announced substantial dividends for their stockholders. John Garrett, President of the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, explained:
GARRETT:
The great principle upon which we joined to act was to earn more and spend less.
NARRATOR:
On July 15th the B & O announced a 10% wage cut. Dick Zepp, a brakeman on the B & O lines, decides this action is too much to take.
On the hot, sultry afternoon of July 16th, Zepp steps down from his locomotive. He and his fellow workers stop trains in the Martinsburg, West Virginia rail yards.
CROWD:
We're all working men, ain't we?
No train's goinna move 'til we get a living wage!
We're on strike!
We might as well starve without work as with it!
Here comes the damn militia! You wouldn't fire on your brother?
Stop that blackleg!
Don't let him throw the switch!
NARRATOR:
This is the spark that ignites the Great Uprising.