Views

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.

Language Analysis and Visualizations:

The Complete Speeches of William Jennings Bryan:In the 1896 Presidential Campaign Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan took four major railroad trips, sometimes giving over a dozen speeches at stops along his route. We have compiled all of Bryan's speeches from newspaper sources and his personal papers. Here, using Token X you can analyze them with word searches, word clouds, and other analytical visualizations.

The Great Railway Strike of 1877:The Democratic and Republican newspapers of Baltimore, Pittsburgh, and other smaller towns along the railroads depicted the strikes and strikers in different ways. Here, using Token X you can analyze the coverage.

Charts:

Virginia and Tennessee Railroad	Eastward Freight Traffic, 1855-56 Westward Freight Traffic, 1855-56
Richmond and Petersburg Railroad	Southbound Passenger Traffic, 1855-56 Northbound PassengerTraffic, 1855-56
Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad	Passengers in 1857 from Philadelphia to Each Station on the Line Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, Passengers in 1857 from Baltimore to Each Station on the Line Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, Passengers in 1857 From Each Station on the Line Philadelphia, Wilmington and Baltimore Railroad, Passengers in 1857 To Each Station on the Line
Virginia and Tennessee Railroad	First Class Passenger Traffic Westward, 1858-59 First Class Passenger Traffic Eastward, 1858-59
Reading Railroad	Distribution of Shares, 1851

Animations:

Railroad Expansion in Nebraska: Railroads expanded across Nebraska rapidly from 1864 when work began on the Union Pacific in Omaha.
The Growth of the Pennsylvania Railroad: Over the course of fifty years the Pennsylvania Railroad became one of the largest corporations in the United States with an extensive network that reached into the West and up to Canada.
The Spread of the Great Railway Strike of 1877: The Strike of 1877 spread rapidly across the railroad network along the Baltimore and Ohio and Pennsylvania lines.

Historical GIS Images:

Georgia Cotton Production (1860): Railroads extended into Georgia's richest counties and those that grew the most cotton. Railroads also skirted county boundaries so that many counties might claim the all-important railroad. Junctions also stood close to county lines.
Southeastern Slave Owners (1860):Railroads served counties with the most slaveholders in these states, making the connection between slavery and railroad development tight.
Southeastern Slave Population (1860): Large numbers of slaves were forced to work on and live near railroads in the first phase of railroad development in the South from the 1830s to the 1850s. By the 1850s the southern railroads were some of the largest slave employers in the entire South.
Southeastern Manufacturing (1860): Southern manufacturing emerged around rail junctions and clusters but was virtually nonexistent in places with little access to the railroads.
Southeastern Farm Value (1860): Railroads seemed to bring high value cash crop agriculture wherever they extended their lines. Total farm value for counties with the most railroad junctions exceeded $ 5 million.
Southeastern Investment in Manufacturing (1860): Capital invested in Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina, while less in total dollars than Northeastern New England, followed the densest railroad networks.
Northeastern Manufacturing (1860): Coastal settlements well served by railroads held the highest number of manufacturing establishments.
Northeastern Farm Value (1860): In mountainous upper New England railroad development was consistent with higher farm values.
Northeastern Investment in Manufacturing (1860): Dense railroad mileage in New England states varied; however, in areas with intense railroad development capital investment spiked to above $ 5 million.
Southeastern Railroad Network (April 1861): Large portions of Southern states were within ten miles of a railroad line or junction, but there were large portions of Georgia, the wiregrass, and North Carolina, the mountains, that remained out of reach of the railroads.

Graphs