Railroads and the Character of America, 1820–1887 by James A. Ward

Abstract

466 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Railroads and the Character of America, 1820—1887. By James A. Ward. Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1986. Pp. xii + 200; illus­ trations, notes, bibliography, index. $14.95. As James A. Ward modestly acknowledges, his book is a history neither of American railroads nor of American thought. Instead, this volume contains topical essays that plumb the rhetoric of railroad men for insight into the 19th-century “American character.” Ap­ proached cautiously, the essays provide a stimulating introduction to oft-neglected themes in American railroad history that deserve more substantial work. The first nine chapters deal with the early decades of railroad de­ velopment and rely largely on the observations of industry outsiders— “promoters, enthusiasts, and advocates” (p. 8). Several explore the theme of “national unity” that railroad promoters employed in a va­ riety of forms to garner support in a nation beset by persistent fears of impending disunity. The railroads would enhance national unity, enthusiasts claimed, by physically tying together the expanding na­ tion; by providing the means to defend its far-flung borders; by en­ hancing the intellectual, moral, and physical health of its citizens; by diminishing class differences; and by fostering prosperity (i.e., in­ creasing land values and making accessible the riches of the West). Interspersed are essays on the metaphor of the “iron horse” and on changing conceptions of time; rounding out this section is a rather unsympathetic survey of opposition to early railroad development. The book concludes with three essays treating later developments and based mainly on the rhetoric of railroad officials themselves. The interstate competition that began to emerge in the 1850s, Ward ar­ gues, forced railroad officials to abandon a national viewpoint and to focus more narrowly “on their own corporate fortunes” (p. 128). This turn of events, followed by the Civil War itself, ultimately laid to rest the “national unity” image. In its place arose the “corporate state” image, paralleling the emergence of railroad magnates who headed corporate entities that resembled nation-states in their power, re­ sources, and demeanor. This image prevailed until the federal gov­ ernment finally began to regulate interstate traffic on the railroads. What do the essays reveal about “American character” between 1820 and 1887? The results are disappointing for several reasons. The transition from a “national unity” to a “corporate state” image remains unconvincing, because, as Ward himself points out, he uses different sources for the two periods. Sprinkled throughout the essays, more­ over, are the elements of a causal argument about the way railroad men and their rhetoric shaped American character; this too must be viewed with some skepticism since it is never clearly enunciated or supported. More fundamental problems arise from the nature of the inquiry itself. It presumes the existence of a “national character,” or at least TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 467 a commonly held vision of national character, that was monolithic in its proportions. But recent studies suggest that only a modicum of ideological consensus prevailed during the antebellum period. What Ward actually discerns, it would seem, is a particular view of the new nation and its future, in this case a vaguely Whiggish one that the railroad men tended to share. Moreover, the topic is inherently com­ parative, but the essays deal exclusively with the United States. In order to assess how it was (or is) that “Americans look at the world differently” (p. 3), one must have a baseline for comparison—different from what? Without it, the inquiry can only reveal how American railroad men envisioned their country, not what was distinctive about that vision. All in all, these provocative essays highlight aspects of American railroad history that deserve further research. Ward’s preliminary survey suggests that the effort would surely enrich our understanding of technological change. Colleen Dunlavy Dr. Dunlavy, assistant professor of history at the University of Wisconsin—Madison, recently completed a dissertation that explores the influence of political structure on early railroad development in the United States and Prussia. Flagler: Rockefeller Partner and Florida Baron. By Edward N. Akin. Kent, Ohio: Kent State University Press, 1988. Pp. xiii + 305; illustrations, notes, bibliography, index. $24.00. Henry Flagler, son of a struggling...