Railroads and American Political Development - 9780700623006

Railroads and American Political DevelopmentInfrastructure, Federalism, and State Building\nAuthor(s): Zachary Callen\nFormat: Hardback\nPublisher: University Press of Kansas, United States\nImprint: University Press of Kansas\nISBN-13: 9780700623006, 978-0700623006\nSynopsis\nAmerica's founders envisioned a federal government of limited and enumerated powers. What they could not envision, of course, was the vast and complex infrastructure that the growing nation would demand-a demand that became ever clearer as the power and importance of railroads emerged. The requirements of a nationwide rail network, it also became clear, far exceeded the resources of state and local government and private industry. The consequences, as seen in this book, amounted to state building from the ground up. In Railroads and American Political Development Zachary Callen tells the story of the federal government's role in developing a national rail system-and the rail system's role in expanding the power.