Answer:
Before the Pacific Railroad Act was signed in 1862, Asa Whitney required the federal government to build a railroad to the Pacific.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Pacific Railroad Acts were a series of congressional acts supporting the construction of a transcontinental railway line across the United States, allowing the issuance of government bonds and the granting of land for the benefit of the railways. The Pacific Railroad Act of 1862 was the original act, which was later expanded and amended in 1863, 1864, 1865 and 1866.
Asa Whitney was one of the first Americans to encourage the construction of a transcontinental railroad. He spent a lot of money trying to get the project through Congress. Representative Zadock Pratt presented the project to Congress. In 1849, Whitney published the manifesto "A Project for a Railroad to the Pacific".