Just as the railroad
transformed America's economic landscape, it profoundly transfigured
its citizens as well. But while there have been many histories of
railroads, few have examined the subject as a social and cultural
phenomenon. Informed especially by rich research in the nation's newspaper
archives, Craig Miner now traces the growth of railroads from their
origins in the 1820s to the onset of the Civil War.
In this first
social history of the early railroads, Miner reveals how ordinary
Americans experienced this innovation at the grass roots, from boosters'
dreams of get-rich schemes to naysayers' fears of soulless corporations.
Drawing on an amazing 400,000 articles from 185 newspapers--plus more
than 3,000 books and pamphlets from the era--he documents the initial
burst of enthusiasm accompanying early railroading as it took shape
in various settings across the country.
Miner examines
the cultural, economic, and political aspects of this broad and complicated
topic while remaining rooted in the local interests of communities.
He takes readers back to the days of the Mauch Chunk Railway, a tourist
sensation of the mid-1820s, navigates the mixed reactions to trains
as Baltimore's city fathers envisioned tracks to the Ohio River, shows
how Pennsylvanians wrestled with the efficacy of railroads versus
canals, and describes the intense rivalry of cities competing for
trade as old transportation patterns were replaced by the new rail
technology.
Miner samples
individual railroads to compare progress across the industry, showing
how it became a quintessentially American business--and how the Panic
of 1837 significantly slowed the railways as a major engine of growth
for many years. He also explores the impact of railroads on different
regions, even disproving the backwardness of the South by citing the
Central of Georgia as one of the best-managed and most profitable
lines in the country.
Through this panoramic
work, readers will discover just how the benefits of what became the
country's first big business triumphed over cultural concerns, though
not without considerable controversy along the way. By identifying
citizens' hopes and fears sparked by the railroads, A Most Magnificent
Machine takes readers down the tracks of progress as it opens
a new window on antebellum America.
325
pages, Hardcover, B&W, © 2010
Order Number: VAP311............$34.95
