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

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910457821403321
• Autore: Thomas William G. <1964->
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: New Haven, : Yale University Press, c2011
• ISBN: 1-283-31971-3; 9786613319715
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (294 p.)
• Disciplina: 973.7/1
• Soggetti: Railroads - United States - History - 19th century; Railroads - Confederate States of America - History; Electronic books.; United States History Civil War, 1861-1865 Transportation; United States Territorial expansion History 19th century
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references and index.
• Nota di contenuto: 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
• Sommario/riassunto: 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.