Railroads and American Society

Catalog description

HIST157 shows that, without railroads, the United States would not have become the United States. It provides a panoramic view of 200 years, from the earliest rail lines to the current day and shows how the rail industry affected everything, from the economy to daily life. One of the course's central objectives is to demonstrate how these changes were experienced differently by different communities and social groups.. The first half of the course investigates how and why the American rail network was built and how the public and government reacted to the changes it brought. It reviews the financial, geographical, and legal resources needed to build the first rail lines and why they proved to be superior to roads and canals. During and after the Civil War, the building of the transcontinental lines relied heavily on federal aid and the labor of minorities (including African American, Irish, and Chinese). Although many Americans initially embraced the railroad industry, after experiencing improvements in their local economies and lifestyles, many turned against it in the late nineteenth century. Hard economic times turned labor against management, farmers against the industrial centers, nativist Americans against immigrants, and so on. After two decades of protest, the reformers of the Progressive era passed sweeping legislation to regulate the industry. The second half of the course studies how railroads declined during the twentieth century and how government regulations were relaxed. In addition to the challenges of two world wars and The Great Depression, it explores how railroads experienced new economic and technological pressures. These include competition from motor vehicles and airplanes, which led railroads to lose most of their passengers and much of their freight. The change from steam to diesel locomotives brought difficulties for rail communities and rail workers. The course investigates how demands made by labor often served to alienate public opinion. Although streamlined passenger trains briefly regained public enthusiasm, this soon dwindled in the post-WW2 years, as Americans embraced the automobile and the airplane. By the 1970s, railroad troubles were extreme enough to test America's sense of balance between free enterprise and government aid. Despite public criticism, the federal government intervened, to create Amtrak and then Conrail. The final sections of the course investigate how the relaxation of federal regulations led to a partial rail renaissance. It shows how freight service has been a great success but why inter-city passenger service continues to be unattractive to many American citizens and investors.