After America acquired the West, the need for efficient transportation increased. Ideas were circulating about a railroad that would cross the continent from east to west. Republican congresses came out in favor of federal funding for railroad construction, but all action was halted for a few years due to the war. After the American Civil War of 1861-1865, the race to build a transcontinental railroad began in 1866. Lincoln approved the Pacific Railway Act of 1862, granting two railroad companies the right to build the first railway of American transcontinental iron (Clark 432). would ultimately become a much-needed symbol of unity, repairing the sectionalism that had once divided the nation during the Civil War. The construction of the transcontinental railroad was also an extension of the transportation revolution. Once raw materials such as gold were discovered in the western half of America, many people decided to move their families west in search of opportunity. Not only did the railroad help transport people, but it also allowed for the delivery of goods from businesses in the East. Ultimately, the American transcontinental railroad created a national market, enabling mass production and boosting industry, while having a tremendous impact on American society by spurring immigration and urbanization. During America's reconstruction after the Civil War, the government allocated land grants and bounties to encourage work on the railroads, which proved effective. However, such incentives led to questionable quality of work. The land donations and loans offered to both companies would eventually become profitable with the addition of railroad tracks running through them, and the last middle of paper ......ortation: The emergence of mechanized systems. Hofstra University, 2013. Web. September 29, 2013. Meyer, David R. The Roots of American Industrialization. Np: JHU, 2003. N. pag. Google Books. JHU Press. Internet. September 29, 2013Seavoy, Ronald E. “Railroads”. An Economic History of the United States: 1607 to the Present. New York: Routledge, 2006. 188-200. Print.Spearman, Frank H. “The First Transcontinental Railroad.” Harper's Monthly Magazine, Volume 109 2011: 711-20. Internet. September 29, 2013. .Stanley, George E. “The Rise of Manufacturing.” The era of reconstruction and expansion (1865-1900. Np: World Almanac Library, 2005. 20-21. Google Books. World Almanac Library. Web. September 29. 2013.