Today we spoke of trains as a major symbol of 19th century American life. To my American Conversation group, trains were the leader of the industrial revolution and aided in the rise of urbanization in America. In Mary Klein's article, she spoke of trains with admiration for their developments of several cities, such as Chicago and the entire Rock Island area. As we stated in class today, I agree that it that trains provided an economic development during the 19th century for many cities/towns not surrounded by a waterway. This machine could transport agricultural goods across the country at a whopping 20 MPH! The railway system was obviously a huge innovation for Americans because it created a bridge between agriculture and industry.
With the rise of the industrial age and the U.S. railway system, the people controlling the train stations gained high status in society. Many of the systems were run by the wealthiest people in the country, such as the Vanderbuilt's, and created monopolies of the economic system. Although these economic gaps between citizens do not seem to foster democracy, they did help to create the rise of unions in America. The actions of the workers fighting for their rights at their train station jobs is certainly a demonstration of democracy at work in America. The grand scale of the railway system across America's territory helps to literally unify the country as a whole, instead of dividing it based on the many state boundaries.
Not a 19th century train, but regardlessly still an awesome one!
Liza, As in the other section, you seem to have worked toward the view that even if the intention was not to promote democracy, there were outcomes that did so. This is precisely the sort of nuanced analysis that we'll be looking for in Part III. LDL
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