Book

Engines of redemption : railroads and the reconstruction of capitalism in the New South

Huffard, R. Scott, Jr., author

Overview

\"After the upheavals of the Civil War and Reconstruction shattered the plantation economy of the Old South, white southerners turned to the railroad to reconstruct capitalism in the region. Engines of redemption examines the rapid growth, systemization, and consolidation of the southern railroad network in the decades after the Civil War. White elites and boosters used the symbolic power of the railroad to proclaim that a New South had risen and the Civil War was in the past. The railroad was more than just the economic engine of growth; it served as a powerful symbol of capitalism's advance. However, the railroad also introduced new dangers and anxieties into southern life, and white southerners came to fear an upending of the racial order, epidemics of yellow fever, train wrecks, violent train robbers, and domination by monopolistic corporations. To complete the reconstruction of capitalism, railroad corporations and their booster allies had to sever the negative aspects of railroading from capitalism's powers and deny the railroad's transformative powers to black southerners. The New South's experience with the growing railroad network provides valuable insights into the history of capitalism, and into how capitalism evolves, expands, and overcomes resistance\"-- Provided by publisher.

• Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
• Subject: Railroads Southern States History 19th century. / Capitalism Southern States History 19th century. / Southern States Economic conditions 19th century. / Southern States Race relations History 19th century.
• ISBN: 9781469652801, 1469652803, 9781469652818, 1469652811

Item info:

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Holdings :

Call Number	Copies	Material	Location
HE2761.H84 2019	1	BOOK	AUTOSTORE