LEADER 05768nam 2201081 450 001 9910797577403321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a0-520-96037-8 024 7 $a10.1525/9780520960374 035 $a(CKB)3710000000465869 035 $a(EBL)2025606 035 $a(SSID)ssj0001543497 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)16134762 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0001543497 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)14399665 035 $a(PQKB)10644989 035 $a(DE-B1597)519921 035 $a(OCoLC)972506277 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780520960374 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL2025606 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr11092775 035 $a(CaONFJC)MIL825407 035 $a(OCoLC)919123886 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC2025606 035 $a(EXLCZ)993710000000465869 100 $a20170124h20162016 uy| 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcnu|||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 14$aThe filth of progress $eimmigrants, Americans, and the building of canals and railroads in the West /$fRyan Dearinger 205 $aFirst edition. 210 1$aOakland, California :$cUniversity of California Press,$d[2016] 210 4$dİ2016 215 $a1 online resource (310 p.) 300 $aDescription based upon print version of record. 311 $a0-520-28460-7 311 $a0-520-28459-3 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references and index. 327 $a"Bind the Republic together" : canals, railroads, and the paradox of American progress -- Immigrant labor and the American imagination : Irish ditchdiggers, the triumph of progress, and the contest of canal communities in the Hoosier State -- "Abuse of the labour and lives of men" : Irish construction workers and the violence of progress on the Illinois transportation frontier -- "Hell (and Heaven) on wheels" : Mormons, immigrants, and the reconstruction of American progress and masculinity on the transcontinental railroad -- "The greatest monument of human labor" : Chinese immigrants, the landscape of progress, and the work of building and celebrating the transcontinental railroad -- End-of-track : reflections on the history of immigrant labor and American progress. 330 $a"In America's historical imagination, toil and triumph against nature and overwhelming odds characterizes such achievements as the Erie Canal and the transcontinental railroad. Triumph transformed canal and railroad entrepreneurs into visionaries whose work brought the nation bountiful riches and did the Lord's bidding. Celebrated for their spirit and perseverance in 'building' the nation's infrastructure, they found respect for looking to tomorrow and creating a future. For generations, most indexes of American history supported and reinforced this narrative of progress. Yet, if this is the historical memory, it is conveniently stunted. What of those whose bodies strained and broke under the load of such glories? What of those men beyond the din and fanfare who only appear in old photographs with faces blurred and indistinguishable? In their lives and deaths in the mud, muck, and mountains is another history of American achievement. These barely visible and forgotten, ordinary men, 'unskilled' immigrants from Ireland and China, Mormons, and native-born American workingmen rank, as well, as the creators of national growth and progress. Their experiences and voices, along with those of the privileged and well-connected, are the subjects of this study. I examine the rise of Western canals and railroads to national prominence through the menial labor of countless men, largely hidden from view because they left virtually no paper trail, who strung together livelihoods at the economic fringes of society. This book examines the contest for control of American progress and history as distilled from the competing narratives of canal and railroad construction workers and those fortunate enough to avoid this fate"--Provided by publisher. 606 $aCanal construction workers$zUnited States$xHistory 606 $aRailroad construction workers$zUnited States$xHistory 606 $aForeign workers$zUnited States$xHistory 606 $aCanals$zUnited States$xHistory 606 $aRailroads$zUnited States$xHistory 610 $a19th century american history. 610 $a19th century american immigrants. 610 $aamerican empire. 610 $aamerican history. 610 $aamerican west. 610 $acanals. 610 $acapitalism. 610 $acentral pacific railroad. 610 $achinese. 610 $aconstruction workers. 610 $acontinental empire. 610 $acultural studies. 610 $aerie canal. 610 $ahistory. 610 $aimmigrants. 610 $aimmigration. 610 $airish. 610 $alabor studies. 610 $alabor. 610 $amormons. 610 $anarrative of progress. 610 $anational infrastructure. 610 $arail travel. 610 $arailroads. 610 $asuffering. 610 $asurvival. 610 $atechnology. 610 $aunion pacific railroad. 610 $aunited states of america. 610 $awestward expansion. 610 $aworkers rights. 610 $aworkers. 615 0$aCanal construction workers$xHistory. 615 0$aRailroad construction workers$xHistory. 615 0$aForeign workers$xHistory. 615 0$aCanals$xHistory. 615 0$aRailroads$xHistory. 676 $a331.6/20978 700 $aDearinger$b Ryan$f1979-$01543361 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910797577403321 996 $aThe filth of progress$93796769 997 $aUNINA