AP Success - AP US History: William Sherman on the Western Railroads

The expansion of U.S. railroads after the Civil War came at a human cost.

Source 1

To the Military Authorities it makes little difference with which of these two roads you ultimately make connection, but meantime every mile of rail road you build Eastward, is of great importance to us; saves the costly and difficult transportation of stones by wagons, and the infinitely more tedious and painful marching of men over dusty roads, at long intervals without water and with scanty food. A Railroad East and West through Arizona, apart from its importance as a Commercial Route from the Pacific to the Atlantic, is a “great civilizer” and will enable the Military Authorities to maintain peace and order among Indians, as well as the Equally dangerous class of Robbers who of late have so much increased in members and boldness.

William T. Sherman on the Western Railroads, 1878.

Question 1

Short answer

Briefly describe one benefit of railroads described in the excerpt.

Question 2

Short answer

Briefly identify one economic trend in post-Civil War America that influenced the writing of the excerpt.

Question 3

Short answer

Briefly explain one way in which Native American tribes resisted the "great civilizer."

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