(1862, 1864) Measures providing federal aid for construction of a U.S. transcontinental railroad.
The first act granted rights-of-way to the Union Pacific Railroad to build westward from Omaha, Neb., and to the Central Pacific Railroad to build eastward from Sacramento, Calif. The second act doubled the size of the land grants adjacent to the rights-of-way and allowed the railroads to sell bonds to raise more money. Congressional investigations later showed that some railroad owners had illegally profited from the railway acts (see Crédit Mobilier scandal ).