what did white settlers think about the trancontinental railroad?
The transcontinental railroad changed the game for white settlers. It enabled them to receive goods much more quickly and easily and facilitated trade with the rest of the nation. Towns sprung up along the railroad stops. The railroad provided a level of protection too, an assurance that a town along the railroad would have regular communication and contact with the rest of the nation, something that was very important to those who had left families in other areas to explore new places. It also gave settlers much more of an ability to expand into unsettled areas near the railroad more rapidly and in some cases take over Native American land more easily than they would have been able to if they were only relying on the supplies that they themselves had brought in.
