Lesson Plans from EDSITEment

ALL ABOARD!

In "Passage to India," Walt Whitman sings in wonderment at the sight of the Transcontinental Railroad. Envisioning himself a passenger, he hears the echoes of the whistle "reverberate through the grandest scenery in the world." The train brings Whitman to the mountains, plains, deserts and forests, whose images he uses to create a romantic portrait of the West that feels eternal.

What the Transcontinental Railroad actually brought was change.

By 1881, it was routine to travel by train from eastern cities like Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore to San Francisco. The round trip that took Lewis and Clark two-and-a-half years in 1803 was now a nine-day journey. The consequences of this new technology were profound. Nothing in the West would ever be the same again.

Analyzing archival material such as photos, documents, and posters, students can truly appreciate the phenomenon of the Transcontinental Railroad. They can begin to answer some important questions: Why was the Transcontinental Railroad built? How did it affect Native Americans? Other minorities? How was the environment affected? What were the advantages of railroad travel? Who used the railroads, and why? Who built the railroad?

Help your class make connections between the arrival of the railroads and many of the changes occurring in the United States and its territories.

Learning Objectives

After completing the lessons in this unit, students will be able to

List at least three effects the Transcontinental Railroad had on the regions through which it passed.

Use archival documents to demonstrate the effect of the Transcontinental Railroad on the U.S.

Guiding Question:

Why was the Transcontinental Railroad built? Who built it? Who used the railroads, and why? What effects did the Transcontinental Railroad have on the U.S.?

Preparing to Teach this Lesson

Review each lesson plan and select the materials that you think will be useful. Download and duplicate as necessary any archival materials you will use, particularly those for Lesson 3. For dramatic effect in Lesson 3, create some large colorful arrows. Provide a way for students to post the documents used in Lesson 3.

This unit offers many resources for classroom use to enable teachers to choose those that are best suited to each class and to organize students efficiently. In Lesson 3, for example, sufficient documents are listed to enable distribution to small groups or individuals as desired.

Obtain background information about the Transcontinental Railroad from the following EDSITEment resources:
- Congress and the American West: The Transcontinental Railroad — A paragraph summary and four images of important documents. Available on The Digital Classroom.
- History of the Union Pacific Railroad — Four brief essays on the financing and construction of the Transcontinental Railroad. Includes links to photos, maps and other railroad-related sites. Available via a link from Internet Public Library.
- History of Railroads and Maps — A detailed look at surveying and mapping railroads during the period of Western expansion. See especially the section on the Transcontinental Railroad. Available on American Memory.
- Lesson Plan on the Transcontinental Railroad — For grades 6-12, with activities that could be adapted for younger students. Available on New Perspectives on the West. The handout for Group 3 lists some good resources on the role of Chinese immigrants; the handout for Group 4 lists good resources on the effect of the arrival of the railroad on Native Americans.

The Digital Classroom, available through EDSITEment, offers a series of worksheets for analyzing primary source documents, including written documents and photographs, that you may wish to use or adapt to help students in reviewing the materials presented in this unit.

Suggested Activities

To heighten student anticipation for learning about the railroads, share railroad-related poems and songs, or read a book aloud to the class. Carol Hurst's Children's Literature Page, a link from the EDSITEment resource Internet Public Library, offers many terrific suggestions on its Trains Page, including "Death of the Iron Horse," by Paul Goble, which tells of the arrival of the rails from the point of view of the Native Americans.

Share with the class an image of an 1881 Through Train Schedule, accessible via a link from the EDSITEment-reviewed website Internet Public Library.

Give students the chance to review the schedule and make observations. Which cities were connected by the railroad? What information can be ascertained from the schedule? Which cities are served?

Give the students a map of the U.S. on which they can indicate the cities being served and the connections between them. A printable map of the 50 states is available through the EDSITEment resource National Geographic Xpeditions.

To emphasize the entry of new states into the Union after the growth of the railroads, students could use instead — or additionally, for comparison purposes — a map of the United States in 1880, available through a link from the EDSITEment reviewed New Perspectives on The West. If desired, compare the 1880 map to a map from 1900 to demonstrate how many states were admitted to the Union in the interim.

If desired, have students compare contemporary train routes with those of 1880:

The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad led to an era of change for the U.S. Read and discuss with the class the following background on railroads and the West from the EDSITEment-reviewed website American Memory:

After the students have created their cause-and-effect ladders, they will work with the Timeline of Events in the West, on the EDSITEment resource New Perspectives on the West, for the 1860s, 1870s and 1880s to look for events that validate student cause-and-effect hypotheses suggested in Lesson 3.

Divide the class into six groups, each assigned events as shown on the timelines provided. (You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view timelines.) Make sure each group has at least one strong reader. Give the students time to look over the list. Proceed chronologically as each group names one or more events that relate to the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. Students should explain the connection based on the discussion in Lesson 3. Further research on any of these events would make a good extension of the lesson.

I Hear the Locomotives: The Impact of the Transcontinental Railroad

Introduction

Learning Objectives

Guiding Question:

Preparing to Teach this Lesson

Suggested Activities

Extending the Lesson

Selected EDSITEment Websites

Other Resources