Around the middle of the 19th century, the us
government gave millions of acres of land to
two large corporations. this was done so that
the transcontinental railroad could be built.

was this transaction fair? what were the
advantages? disadvantages? who would
have been most affected?

In 1862, the Pacific Railroad Act chartered the Central Pacific and the Union Pacific Railroad Companies, tasking them with building a transcontinental railroad that would link the United States from east to west. Over the next seven years, the two companies would race toward each other from Sacramento, California on the one side to Omaha, Nebraska on the other, struggling against great risks before they met at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869