People began to understand ...

People began to understand that with the acquisition of California the nation had obtained practically half a continent, of which the future possibilities were almost unlimited, so far as the development of natural resources and the genera production of wealth were concerned.
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 John Moody

Quotes from the same author

The public conviction that a railroad linking the West and the East was an absolute necessity became so pronounced after the gold discoveries of '49 that Congress passed an act in 1853 providing for a survey of several lines from the Mississippi to the Pacific.
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 John Moody
As the contest proceeded, public interest increased and the entire country watched to see which company would win the big government subsidies through the mountains.
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 John Moody
The States which form the northern border of the United States westward from the Great Lakes to the Pacific coast include an area several times larger than France and could contain ten Englands and still have room to spare.
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 John Moody
The United States as we know it today is largely the result of mechanical inventions, and in particular of agricultural machinery and the railroad. One transformed millions of acres of uncultivated land into fertile farms, while the other furnished the transportation which carried the crops to distant markets.
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 John Moody
Horses and mules, and even sail cars, made more rapid progress than did the earliest locomotive.
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 John Moody