Congress authorized Secretary of War Jefferson Davis to commission the Army Corps of Engineers for the transcontinental railroad survey. Davis, who had represented Mississippi in the House and the Senate, favored the southernmost route. He continued to advocate for a southern railroad after secession, as President of the Confederate States of America.
Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives and Records Administration
Amendment to H.R. 336 Authorizing a Survey for a Railroad Route to the Pacific Ocean, February 24, 1853
Debating the Rail Route
In 1853 Congress authorized funds for the Army Corps of Engineers to survey four possible routes for a railway from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. Members of Congress recognized the potential for commerce and development that a transcontinental railway would bring, and they advocated strenuously for their own regions. Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri was an outspoken proponent of a central route. Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, a former and future senator from Mississippi, favored a southern route.
Congress authorized Secretary of War Jefferson Davis to commission the Army Corps of Engineers for the transcontinental railroad survey. Davis, who had represented Mississippi in the House and the Senate, favored the southernmost route. He continued to advocate for a southern railroad after secession, as President of the Confederate States of America.
Records of the U.S. Senate, National Archives and Records Administration
