October 26, 1894 | Newspaper
Bryan's World Herald emphasizes the stock watering and financial schemes of railroads that have gone bankrupt. Bryan's campaign consistently points to the railroads as bloated and overvalued in stocks and, as a consequence, threatening to ruin the reputation of the United States in world financial markets.
September 30, 1894 | Newspaper
The editor of The Omaha Bee quotes economist Richard T. Ely and explores the idea of the strikes as a "necessary evil," one that reveals the broken nature of the industrial, railroad political economy. Rates and the proper valuation of railroad properties were a crucial public issue.
October 8, 1862 | Illustration
This image from the October 8, 1862 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts three men at Fair View, Maryland observing Confederate forces in the distance working to destroy the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad.
March 19, 1841 | Newspaper
Northern railways continued to discriminate against African American passengers and are rebuked in the Massachusetts House of Representatives.
November 23, 1855 | Contract
This 1855 receipt describes the purchase of a young female slave and her two children.
February 20, 1858 | Contract
This receipt and letter describes the terms of sale for a slave in 1858.
March 5, 1860 | Contract
This March 5, 1860 receipt lists the names, ages, and purchase price of 21 slaves sold to the Mississippi Central Railroad.
March 5, 1860 | Contract
This March 5, 1860 receipt lists the names, ages, and purchase price of 31 slaves "sold & delivered" to the Mississippi Central Railroad.
July 23, 1877 | Newspaper
This July 23, 1877 article from the Pittsburgh Daily Post details the mob's strength during the railroad strike and provides a description of key events.
December 24, 1864 | Annual report
In this December 24, 1864 report, Samuel B. Reed describes his surveys and explorations of the land from Green River, Utah to Salt Lake City. He gives his recommendations for the route of the Union Pacific Railroad line, including the availability of timber for railroad ties and coal to power the locomotives.
1867
In this copy of a report from 1867, Samuel Reed writes to Oliver Ames, President of the Union Pacific Railroad, detailing the progress of the railroad's construction over the past year. He describes the totality of the work that has been done on the railroad from October 1, 1866 to September 1, 1867, giving very specific accounts of the miles of track laid, telegraph lines built, railroad ties used, bridges constructed, amount of earth and rock excavated during grading, and the like. He also discusses the great difficulty he has had in obtaining ties for the railroad, particularly from the Black Hills and in the area of Laurence Fork, Nebraska. He writes that there have been "serious delays in grading and in furnishing ties caused by the decided hostility of the Indians, our grading men have been frequently attacked, some men have been killed and a large amount of stock lost." Reed also includes an account of the materials on hand as of September 1, 1867.
January 31, 1866 | Annual report
In this January 31, 1866 report, Samuel B. Reed describes his surveys and explorations of the land from Salt Lake City, Utah to the California state line. He gives his recommendations for the route of the Union Pacific Railroad and suggests building the line from West to East (rather than from East to West), due to timber availability. He further suggests that subsequent survey crews should use camels, rather than horses or mules, due to the lack of water on a good portion of the route.
1867 | Annual report
This report details the financial and material state of the Southern Railroad Company in 1867.
July 21, 1877 | Newspaper
This article from the July 21, 1877 issue of the Baltimore American reports the number of citizens killed when the military shot into the crowd outside Camden Station in Baltimore.
July 23, 1877 | Newspaper
This article in the July 23, 1877 edition of the Daily Alleganian and Times describes incidents stemming from the vast number of reporters who had arrived to cover the strike.
November 3, 1894 | Newspaper
Conservative Republicans organized "Business Men's Associations" in the 1894 campaign to fund and support Republican candidates, elect John M. Thurston, and defeat William Jennings Bryan. These associations spawned considerable political debate about the role of business in politics.
1864 | Letter
Passes for African American railroad employees requested of W. J. Stevens, Superintendent of the Military Railroad, Nashville.
December 24, 1887 | Newspaper
The case of Rev. William Heard versus the Georgia Railroad Company is heard before the Interstate Commerce Commission.
August 19, 1896 | Speech
Speech by William Jennings Bryan.
May 18, 1861 | Illustration
This image from the May 18, 1861 issue of Harper's Weekly depicts Rhode Island artillery being unloaded from the steamship "Bienville" at the Washington, D.C. arsenal.