U2L5 Mining, Railroads, and the Economy

Question 1

What is Comstock Lode?

Answer 1

Two prospectors struck gold in Nevada in 1859. Then, another miner, Henry Comstock, appeared. “The land is mine,” he cried, demanding to be made a partner. From then on, Comstock boasted about “his” mine. The strike became known as the Comstock Lode.

Question 2

What is a lode?

Answer 2

A lode is a rich vein of gold or silver

Question 3

Why didn’t Comstock and his men like the heavy blue sand that was mixed in with the gold?

Answer 3

It clogged the devices used for separating out the gold and made the gold hard to reach.

Question 4

What was the blue sand mixed in the gold?

Answer 4

Silver and Comstock had stumbled onto one of the richest silver mines in the world.

Question 5

Near all major mining sites what happened?

Answer 5

Towns sprang up almost overnight

Question 6

How did woman profit in boomtowns?

Answer 6

Some women ran boardinghouses and laundries. Others opened restaurants, where miners gladly paid high prices for home-cooked meals.

Question 7

How long did boomtowns typically last?

Answer 7

Only for a few years

Question 8

What were the negative causes of mining?

Answer 8

Mines and towns polluted clear mountain streams. Miners cut down forests to get wood for buildings. They also forced Native Americans from the land.

Question 9

How were foreigners miners treated?

Answer 9

Foreign miners were often treated unfairly. In many camps, mobs drove Mexicans from their claims. Chinese miners were heavily taxed or forced to work claims abandoned by others.

Question 10

How were miners different from large mining companies?

Answer 10

Much of the gold and silver lay deep underground. It could be reached only with costly machinery. Eventually, most mining in the West was taken over by large companies that could afford to buy this equipment.

Question 11

What happened to independent prospectors?

Answer 11

Independent prospectors like Henry Comstock largely disappeared

Question 12

Who were independent prosecutors replaced by?

Answer 12

They were replaced by paid laborers who worked for the large companies.

Question 13

How did people on boom towns handle crimes?

Answer 13

Miners resorted to organizing groups of vigilantes. Vigilantes tracked down outlaws and punished them, usually without trials. A common punishment was lynching.

Question 14

Instead of fighting crime, what did some other vigilantes do?

Answer 14

They tried to take political control of the city.

Question 15

What did many Native Americans think of railroads?

Answer 15

The railroad was a terrifying monster, an “iron horse” belching black smoke and moving at stunning speeds.

Question 16

Where did most railroad companies want to out their railroads? Why?

Answer 16

They wanted to put there railroads near and at boomtowns. The West needed a transportation system that could carry heavy loads over great distances at a cost low enough to guarantee a profit.

Question 17

Which two companies raced to build the first transcontinental railroad?

Answer 17

The Union Pacific Railroad started building a rail line westward from Omaha, Nebraska. The Central Pacific Railroad began in Sacramento, California, and built eastward.

Question 18

What is a subsidy?

Answer 18

A subsidy is financial aid or a land grant from the government.

Question 19

When would a railroad company receive more land from the government?

Answer 19

Congress lent money to the railroad companies and gave them land. For every mile of track completed, the railroad companies received twenty sections of land in the states along the route and forty sections per mile in the territories.

Question 20

Why was building the transcontinental railroad dangerous?

Answer 20

People die and it was hard. Fill in the rest of the blanks by yourself :D

Question 21

When was the transcontinental railroad finished?

Answer 21

The Central Pacific and Union Pacific met at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869. Leland Stanford, president of the Central Pacific, dropped a solid-gold spike into a pre-drilled hole in the rail. In doing so, he joined the two tracks and united the country. The nation’s first transcontinental railroad was complete.

Question 22

What did railroads bring to the West?

Answer 22

The railroads brought economic growth and new settlement all across the West. They enabled people, supplies, and mail to move quickly and cheaply across the plains and mountains. Wherever rail lines went, settlements—“railroad towns”—sprang up along the tracks.

Question 23

Where did the largest towns spring up?

Answer 23

The largest towns and cities developed where major railroad lines met.

Question 24

Why was the Great Northern railroad different from others?

Answer 24

Unlike other rail lines, the Great Northern was built without financial aid from Congress.

Question 25

What did farmers do when the railroad rates got too high?

Answer 25

burn their crops for fuel instead of sending them to market

Question 26

How did railroad owners try to keep customers in a competitive business environment?

Answer 26

Railroad owners won customers by slashing prices and granting secret rebates to their frequent customers. The owners also pooled, which meant they divided up the business in a particular area.

Question 27

How did railroad companies change their practices to become more efficient?

Answer 27

Specialized departments were created for each function such as shipping and accounting. Expert leaders would manage those departments. Chains of command were also established so that business would run smoothly.

Question 28

Why was immigrant labor brought in to help build the railroads?

Answer 28

Labor was scarce after the Civil War. In addition, the work was backbreaking and dangerous and the pay was low.

Question 29

How did the railroad system benefit the country as a whole?

Answer 29

Workers were paid wages to lay the tracks and employees who ran the trains were also paid wages. Passengers who rode the trains traveled efficiently, shippers had a more cost-effective way to transport goods, and people who lived in the towns that sprang up were able to get supplies more easily.

Question 30

Why did boomtowns spring up throughout the West?

Answer 30

As people moved into areas to mine, boomtowns sprang up to supply their needs. First, tents were the main housing options. As the towns grew, wood-frame houses were built, and hotels and restaurants were established. Miners and their families were able to purchase and trade at stores that carried what settlers needed.

Question 31

Which of the following are true about railroad expansion in the late 19th century?

• It lead to new managerial forms and techniques
• It accelerated the growth of new territories
• It was financed by the government
• It grew too quickly and large corporations lost money

Answer 31

• It lead to new managerial forms and techniques
• It accelerated the growth of new territories
• It grew too quickly and large corporations lost money

Question 32

Which U.S. region was most impacted by the completion of the transcontinental railroad 1869?

Answer 32

West

Question 33

Why did railroad leaders consolidate their lines in the 1880s?

Answer 33

To reduce completion and increase efficiency