The iron way : railroads, the Civil War, and the making of modern America / William G. Thomas.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Thomas, William G., 1964-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Confederate States of America. Army--Transportation.

Confederate States of America.

United States. Army--Transportation--History--19th century.

United States.

Railroads--United States--History--19th century.

Railroads.

Railroads--Confederate States of America--History.

United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865--Transportation.

United States--Territorial expansion--History--19th century.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (294 p.)

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, c2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Beginning with Frederick Douglass's escape from slavery in 1838 on the railroad, and ending with the driving of the golden spike to link the transcontinental railroad in 1869, this book charts a critical period of American expansion and national formation, one largely dominated by the dynamic growth of railroads and telegraphs. William G. Thomas brings new evidence to bear on railroads, the Confederate South, slavery, and the Civil War era, based on groundbreaking research in digitized sources never available before. The Iron Way revises our ideas about the emergence of modern America and the role of the railroads in shaping the sectional conflict.Both the North and the South invested in railroads to serve their larger purposes, Thomas contends. Though railroads are often cited as a major factor in the Union's victory, he shows that they were also essential to the formation of "the South" as a unified region. He discusses the many-and sometimes unexpected-effects of railroad expansion and proposes that America's great railroads became an important symbolic touchstone for the nation's vision of itself.Please visit the Railroads and the Making of Modern America website at http://railroads.unl.edu.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Prologue

Chapter 1: Slavery, The South, And "Every Bar Of Railroad Iron"

Chapter 2: Railroads, The North, And "The Velocity Of Progress"

Chapter 3: Secession And A Modern War

Chapter 4: Fighting The Confederate Landscapes

Chapter 5: The Railroad War Zones

Chapter 6: The Confederate Nation "Cut Off From The World"

Chapter 7: The Railroad Strategy

Chapter 8: After Emancipation

Epilogue: The Road To Promontory Summit

Acknowledgments

Appendix

A Note On Sources

Notes

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9786613319715

9781283319713

1283319713

OCLC:

763161460