Originally Posted By Socrates "It's also worth mentioning the central part that the railroads played in the development of the United States. Particularly with respect to the mid 19th century American frontier as well as the beginning of the 20th in towns throughout the country." That's one of my favorite alternate-history questions. If the Civil War would've happened several decades earlier, which side would the Mid-West have supported? Transport was based on water, and the rivers generally went south. It wasn't until the railroads that the Mid-West was economically tied to the East. Socrates "The unexamined life is not worth living."
Originally Posted By FerretAfros That's a very interesting question. Mark Twain's Life on the Mississippi really highlights that era and its reliance on rivers in the Midwest. Although there were certainly differences, Minnesota shared more similarities with Louisiana than Massachusetts. And while riverboats are different than locomotives, the book really does give a great appreciation for the 'live' nature of steam engines But if we really want to get into history, the Civil War was definitely influenced in many ways by the Industrial Revolution. Most people try to simplify it down to a simple argument for or against slavery, but there were a lot of factors in play at the time
Originally Posted By Yookeroo "Most people try to simplify it down to a simple argument for or against slavery, but there were a lot of factors in play at the time" All of them dwarfed by (or related to) slavery.
Originally Posted By Socrates There's a word for that -- Oops. (Something you never want to hear a doctor say.) Socrates "The unexamined life is not worth living."
