Views are interpretive historical representations which move toward the recovery of a style of visual argument for history. Each View contains information pulled from documents, databases, and historical sources and each seeks to demonstrate the social effects of the development of the railroad network over time. We will assemble here animated charts, graphs, movies, and historical GIS files for comparison and analysis.
The Great Strike of 1877 raised questions about the nature of modern American society and its increasingly interdependent and networked economy. Americans wondered if the railroads that had been such a part of the modern nation's sectional crisis and figured so prominently in its triumph were now also its greatest weakness, a network that no longer unified but exposed the nation. Newspaper editors shaped coverage of the events with explosive headlines, focused stories, and politically charged editorials about the strike. Their language and detailed descriptions captured the intensity and personal struggle among the workers and middle-class Americans viewing these events with alarm.
In the 1850s railroads hired thousands of working people to build and operate their growing lines. In 1857 the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad recorded every employee on the line. Over 6,000 individuals worked for the B & O in a variety of roles. At least one woman was employed by the company, Sarah Mally, as well as many free blacks and Irish immigrants. Our database will track these individuals over time and in coming months we will add more data from different railroads on slave laborers, Irish, and other workers.
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