ABOUT | pacificrailwayact

Thesis

The Pacific Railway Act signed by President Abraham Lincoln in 1862 provided Federal support for the building of the first transcontinental railroad, stretching from the Missouri River to the Pacific Ocean. The Act allowed the government to grant public land and issue bonds to fund construction of the railway, which further opened the western half of the country to development. From 1850 to 1871, the railroads received more than 175 million acres of public land (an area more than one tenth of the whole United States and larger than Texas).

"An act to aid in the construction of a railroad and telegraph line from the Missouri river to the Pacific ocean, and to secure to the government the use of the same for postal, military, and other purposes," Abraham Lincoln(Act of March 3, 1862.)

"First. The names of the stockholders and their places of residence, so far as the same can be ascertained;

Second. The names and residences of the directors, and all other officers of the company;

Third. The amount of stock subscribed, and the amount thereof actually paid in;

Fourth. A description of the lines of road surveyed, of the lines thereof fixed upon for the construction of the road, and the cost of such surveys;

Fifth. The amount received from passengers on the road;

Sixth. The amount received for freight thereon;

Seventh. A statement of the expense of said road and its fixtures;

Eighth. A statement of the indebtedness of said company, setting forth the various kinds thereof. Which report shall be sworn to by the president of the said company, and shall be presented to the Secretary of the Treasury on or before the first day of July in each year."

APPROVED, July 1, 1862.