Read the text and answer the question. Theodore D. Judah, the engineer of the Sacramento Valley Railroad, became obsessed with the desire to build a transcontinental railroad. In 1860 he approached Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker, leading Sacramento merchants, and soon convinced them that building a transcontinental line would make them rich and famous. The prospect of tapping the wealth of the Nevada mining towns and forthcoming legislation for federal aid to railroads stimulated them to incorporate the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California. This line later merged with the Southern Pacific. It was through Judah's efforts and the support of Abraham Lincoln . . . that the Pacific Railroad finally became a reality. The Railroad Act of 1862 put government support behind the transcontinental railroad and helped create the Union Pacific Railroad, which subsequently joined with the Central Pacific at Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869[.] — Library of Congress

What was the ultimate motivation behind the development described in the text?Arealizing the Manifest Destiny of the United States by connecting the East and West Coasts

Arealizing the Manifest Destiny of the United States by connecting the East and West Coasts
B enabling the United States to spread democracy throughout the Americas
C expanding economic opportunities for American Indians in the United States
Dimproving relations between the United States and European powers through trade expansion

Arealizing the Manifest Destiny of the United States by connecting the East and West Coasts

The ultimate motivation behind the development described in the text was realizing the Manifest Destiny of the United States by connecting the East and West Coasts. This can be inferred from the mention of the engineer's obsession with building a transcontinental railroad, the desire of the merchants to tap into the wealth of Nevada mining towns, and the subsequent incorporation of the Central Pacific Railroad Company of California.

A) realizing the Manifest Destiny of the United States by connecting the East and West Coasts