Why did the building of the Transcontinental Railroad have to be shelved for a few years?
Iron rails rusted, and the wait for steel rails was extremely long.
There were not enough workers to complete the building process.
Native American attacks made the work entirely too dangerous.
The Civil War disrupted the building process of the railroad.
D?
Good guess -- but it's wrong.
https://www.shmoop.com/transcontinental-railroad/timeline.html
The correct answer is D) The Civil War disrupted the building process of the railroad.
To understand why the building of the Transcontinental Railroad had to be shelved for a few years, you need to know the historical context. The Transcontinental Railroad was a project that aimed to connect the eastern and western coasts of the United States through a railway line. However, the construction of the railroad faced a significant setback due to the Civil War.
During the Civil War, which took place from 1861 to 1865, the attention, resources, and manpower of the nation were primarily focused on the conflict between the Northern and Southern states. As a result, the construction of the Transcontinental Railroad was put on hold and delayed.
The war itself strained the nation's resources, as it required a massive mobilization of soldiers, equipment, and supplies. The priority for the government and the people shifted from infrastructure development to fighting the war. Additionally, many of the laborers and workers who could have been employed for the railway project enlisted in the military instead.
Therefore, the need to focus on the war effort, the strain on resources, and the diversion of labor all contributed to the shelving of the Transcontinental Railroad project for a few years. The construction of the railroad resumed after the end of the Civil War in 1865.