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Breadcrumb

  1. History Assessments
  2. Background Knowledge
  3. The Gilded Age
  4. Transcontinental Railroad Connections
Topic: U.S. History
Historical Skills: Background Knowledge, Contextualization, Corroboration
Time Period: The Gilded Age
  • Assessment
  • Rubric

Alternative Versions of Assessment

  • Connections to the Philippine-American War
  • The War of 1812
  • Breadlines in the 1930s
  • Attack on Fort Sumter
  • Forced Removal of Japanese Americans
  • Apartheid in South Africa
  • China's Cultural Revolution
  • Appeasement at Munich
  • Tennis Court Oath
  • Seville Quran
  • Tupac Amaru II
  • Haitian Constitution
  • League of Nations
  • Captain Cook
  • Russia and Austria in World War I
  • Mexican Americans in the 1930s

Transcontinental Railroad Connections

Like Connections to the Philippine-American War, this assessment gauges students' knowledge of the past. Rather than measure whether students can simply recall decontextualized facts, this assessment requires students to make connections across time and construct an argument about how events are connected. Students with a strong sense of the past will be able to explain that the transcontinental railroad was constructed, in part, due to the increasing American population in California from the Gold Rush onward. Strong students will also explain that the completion of the transcontinental railroad prompted Chinese workers previously employed on the railroad to compete for more desirable jobs, which contributed to anti-Chinese sentiment. This prejudice led to the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

Photograph of Promontory Point 1869

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Transcontinental Railroad Connections Assessment Register or Log in to download
Transcontinental Railroad Connections Rubric Register or Log in to download
Photograph of Promontory Point - Library of Congress Register or Log in to access

Alternative Versions of Assessment

  • Connections to the Philippine-American War

    View assessment
  • The War of 1812

    View assessment
  • Breadlines in the 1930s

    View assessment
  • Attack on Fort Sumter

    View assessment
  • Forced Removal of Japanese Americans

    View assessment
  • Apartheid in South Africa

    View assessment
  • China's Cultural Revolution

    View assessment
  • Appeasement at Munich

    View assessment
  • Tennis Court Oath

    View assessment
  • Seville Quran

    View assessment
  • Tupac Amaru II

    View assessment
  • Haitian Constitution

    View assessment
  • League of Nations

    View assessment
  • Captain Cook

    View assessment
  • Russia and Austria in World War I

    View assessment
  • Mexican laborers in California, 1935

    Mexican Americans in the 1930s

    View assessment
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