Essay Writing Prompt
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Directions: Read both texts, Highlight important information, answer the questions, and draft
your essay before writing. Complete your graphic organizer and notes in your writing notebook.
Type your final draft. Due on Friday.  Email it to me or share it on OneDrive.
Passage One
The Transcontinental Railroad
The Challenge
The challenge was to build a railroad from the East Coast to the West Coast. There was
already a network of railroads on the East Coast and as far west as Missouri, but the challenging
part lay ahead. It would not be easy to build railroad lines through waterless deserts, solid-rock
mountains, or Native American hunting territory.
Two railroad companies were up for the challenge. The Union Pacific and the Central
Pacific both won government contracts to work on the railroad. The Union Pacific would build
west from Missouri. The Central Pacific would build east from California. Both companies would
be paid for each mile of track they laid, $16,000 per mile on the prairie, twice as much on the
high plateaus, and three times as much through the mountains. Whichever company built the
most track would earn the most money. The race was on!
The Union Pacific hired thousands of workers, many of them Irish immigrants, and
started building track across the Great Plains. Each day, it built a few more miles of track.The
Central Pacific hired workers in California and began to build. Its first step was to tunnel through
the steep, rocky Sierra Nevada Mountains. Some days, they progressed only a few inches. Many
workers on the first crew quit; then the Central Pacific began hiring Chinese immigrants.
Thousands of these newly-arrived Americans chipped away at the rock day after day. It was slow
going, but they kept at it.
They cut tunnels through solid rock. The workers used black powder to blast the rock
loose and nothing but their own muscle power to remove the rock. They had no electric or
gasoline powered tools and only a small engine to carry the rock away. Sometimes, there was no
way to climb to a tunnel's location. Then, they worked from platforms supported only by ropes
attached at the top of the mountain. From these suspended platforms, they set the black powder
charges and dug away rock. It was dangerous work, and over 1,000 workers died on the job.
Both companies sent grading crews ahead of the track builders. These crews prepared the
land, leveling it for the tracks. In the spring of 1869, both crews were approaching a meeting
point in the state of Utah. Both crews wanted to get as many of these last few miles as possible,
so they kept grading even after the two lines had actually passed each other. The Union Pacific
and the Central Pacific were grading land for tracks side by side! Finally, the government stepped
in and chose Promontory Point, Utah, as the final meeting point.
On May 10, 1869, the tracks were joined with a final spike. It was a big event, and telegraphs
sent messages to the East Coast and the West Coast that the Transcontinental Railroad was
complete.
The Results
Now settlers could take the train west. Manufactured goods and raw materials could be
transported from coast to coast. The post office could carry messages all across the country, too.
The Transcontinental Railroad was a huge technological advance; it was the beginning of a new
age in transportation and communication.
When a big technological advance comes along, sometimes there are unexpected or
serious side effects. This is what happened with the Transcontinental Railroad. Buffalo hunters
began taking the train west. Some hunted for the meat or hides. Others hunted only for sport.
There were reports of hunters shooting buffalo from the windows of the train. So many buffalo
were killed that they soon became nearly extinct. The Native Americans who had depended on
the buffalo for hundreds of years lost their livelihood. For many Native Americans, their
traditional way of life was exterminated along with the buffalo.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Passage Two
THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE
The Golden Gate Bridge is a well-recognized landmark in the United
States. It spans the Golden Gate Strait - a mile-wide stretch of water that
connects the San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. The Golden Gate
Bridge itself connects the city of San Francisco with Marin County on the
other side of the Strait. The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the most beautiful
bridges in the world. It is also one of the tallest.
The idea for a bridge across the strait had been around for many years, because San Francisco
suffered from its isolated location. The only practical way to get across the San Francisco Bay
was to take a ferry. Planning for the Golden Gate Bridge began in 1916, but the design underwent
many changes before construction finally started in 1933. Joseph Strauss was the chief engineer
in charge of the bridge project.
However, he had little experience with the construction of suspension bridges. For this reason,
other engineers, architects, and designers made vital contributions to the design and construction
of the bridge. For example, the bridge owes its art deco style and distinctive orange color
(“international orange”) to the architects Irving and Gertrude Morrow. Charles Alton Ellis, an
expert on structural design, was the main engineer on the project, and did much of the technical
work necessary to build the bridge.
It was not easy to get the project started. Financing had to be found, and there was much
opposition to the very idea of a bridge. The U.S. Navy, for example, feared that a bridge would
obstruct ship traffic. The Southern Pacific Railroad, which ran the ferry fleets, feared competition
from the bridge. Many experts did not believe that it would be possible to build such a long
bridge under such difficult circumstances. A suspension bridge of that length had never before
been built. There are strong currents and heavy winds on the bridge site, which made construction
dangerous. The construction of the bridge finally began in 1933. The construction work set new
standards for safety – workers were among the first required to wear hard hats, and an innovative
safety net saved the lives of nineteen men while the bridge was built. The Golden Gate Bridge
was completed in 1937, when the bridge opened to pedestrians. (It was opened to cars one year
later.) The bridge was finished ahead of schedule and cost much less than originally budgeted.
Today, the Golden Gate Bridge has a main span of 4,200 feet (almost a mile) and a total length of
8,981 feet, or about 1.7 miles, making it one of the longest bridges in the world (it was the
longest until 1964). The bridge is 90 feet wide, and its span is 220 feet above the water. The
towers supporting the huge cables rise 746 feet above the waters of the Golden Gate Strait,
making them 191 feet taller than the Washington Monument. Each steel cable is 7,650 feet long
and has a diameter of 36 inches. About 40 million automobiles cross the bridge every year: proof
that the bridge serves a vital function. There are foghorns to let passing ships know where the
bridge is, and aircraft beacons on the tops of the towers to prevent planes from crashing into
them. Because the Golden Gate Bridge is the first sight for many people arriving in the United
States by ship, it is sometimes called the “Statue of Liberty” for the West Coast.
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1. Which if the following is not an effect caused by the Transcontinental Railroad? (10 points)
A. Overhunting of the buffalo
C. Mail delivered across the country
B. Rail lines on the East Coast
D. Settlers traveling west by train
2. Before the Golden Gate Bridge was built, San Francisco suffered from transportation
problems. Why were different people opposed to building the bridge? (20 points)
3. Compare and contrast the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad and the Golden
Gate Bridge. (20 points)
4. Essay Question: Great ideas endure hesitation and conflicts before it becomes reality.
Usually these great ideas result in short term and long term effects. Describe the
hardships/conflicts of building both of these structures and the impact/effect the had on
United States. (50 Points)