读过 The Transcontinental Railroad: A History from Beginning to End 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑
十九世纪二十年代，铁路开始飞速发展起来，美国也不例外，到五十年代，建设的一万四千公里铁路集中在东边，当时跨洲旅行非常困难，美国联邦政府本来想接着建设跨洲铁路，当时有三条可选方案，其中南边方案因为不会雪灾最可行，不过后来内战爆发，林肯政府就改用北方方案，不过进展缓慢，直到内战结束，美国联邦政府指定了 Union Pacific 和 Central Pacific 分别建设铁路，不过这两家企业莫名搞建设竞赛，看谁建得快，最高纪录是一天推进十六公里，这个记录直到现在，哪怕现代科技如此发达，都没被打破；更加微妙的是铁路建设很难招到工人，于是西边和东边的劳力来源分别就是来自广州的华人移民和爱尔兰移民。当时清朝在经历太平天国革命，二千万人死亡！于是触发了名为 Gold Rush 的华人移民潮，但加州本地人不欢迎他们，于是华人以更低廉的工薪跑到铁路工程那里充当主力，但恶劣的施工条件下也有伤亡，而且当时没有明文记载具体身故人数，包含传染疾病在内并估算的话，大约有一千人客死他乡；至于爱尔兰人，他们当时在经历爱尔兰大饥荒而逃难到美国，却因为 Catholic 宗教而被排挤；更加更加微妙的是跨洲铁路快会合的时候，华人和爱尔兰人互相看不顺眼并发生血腥冲突，公司不得不介入；华人也罢工过，也遭遇血腥镇压；跨洲铁路工程结束后美国推出排华法案，华人劳工被迫返乡，爱尔兰人倒是没这烦恼，往往直接就地归化；工程也顺便带来了一些铁路上的新定居点，这些后来发展成小镇，其中有些 Hell on Wheels 更是成为无法地带，史称 Wild West；一八六九年五月十日，跨洲铁路大功告成；自此，东边往西边输送原料，西边往东边送食物，美国也成为了真正意义上的国家，物流效率暴增，经济起飞，到二十世纪初已成为大国；但跨洲铁路也有弊端，资源消耗巨大，东边的树林被砍光，生态恶化，buffalos 灭绝，美洲原住民生活条件倒退；一九七一年美国铁路开始衰退，客运让位于高速公路和航空运输，铁路公司倒闭的倒闭，合体的合体，现在美国铁路客运企业组成一个叫 Amtrak 的组织，知道今天依然在经营甚至延伸到加拿大三省，铁路节点也包括一百五十年前的跨洲铁路。
The Transcontinental Railroad: A History from Beginning to End [Book] Goodreads
author:
Hourly History
publishing house:
Hourly History
2024
- 12
Discover the remarkable history of the Transcontinental Railroad...
Free BONUS Inside!
In the 1850s, the United States was a nation divided. In the North, industrialization and urbanization were both significant drivers of change. In the South, a largely agrarian economy was supported by the institution of slavery. The East and West of the country were also divided, not by social or political differences but by a vast tract of largely untouched, rugged, and often hostile territory. There were just two ways to travel from the East Coast to the Pacific Coast or vice versa. A journey by stagecoach or wagon train could take anything from three to six months and was fraught with potential hazards. The alternative was a trip by ship via Cape Horn, which could take two months or more. For Americans living on the East Coast, it was faster, cheaper, and safer to travel to Europe than to the Pacific Coast of their own country.
If America was to prosper and continue to grow, it had to become a single nation—territorially, politically, and culturally. The differences between the Northern and Southern states were at least partly solved by a Northern victory in the American Civil War from 1861 to 1865 that left over one million dead. Forging a reliable link between East and West would take not a war but the completion of one of the most ambitious and challenging engineering feats of the nineteenth the building of a 2,000-mile transcontinental railroad.
Discover a plethora of topics such as Fragmented AmericaCentral Construction in the WestUnion Construction in the EastImmigrant Irish and Chinese WorkersScandals and Hell on WheelsThe Golden SpikeAnd much more!
So if you want a concise and informative book on the Transcontinental Railroad, simply scroll up and click the "Buy now" button for instant access!
Free BONUS Inside!
In the 1850s, the United States was a nation divided. In the North, industrialization and urbanization were both significant drivers of change. In the South, a largely agrarian economy was supported by the institution of slavery. The East and West of the country were also divided, not by social or political differences but by a vast tract of largely untouched, rugged, and often hostile territory. There were just two ways to travel from the East Coast to the Pacific Coast or vice versa. A journey by stagecoach or wagon train could take anything from three to six months and was fraught with potential hazards. The alternative was a trip by ship via Cape Horn, which could take two months or more. For Americans living on the East Coast, it was faster, cheaper, and safer to travel to Europe than to the Pacific Coast of their own country.
If America was to prosper and continue to grow, it had to become a single nation—territorially, politically, and culturally. The differences between the Northern and Southern states were at least partly solved by a Northern victory in the American Civil War from 1861 to 1865 that left over one million dead. Forging a reliable link between East and West would take not a war but the completion of one of the most ambitious and challenging engineering feats of the nineteenth the building of a 2,000-mile transcontinental railroad.
Discover a plethora of topics such as Fragmented AmericaCentral Construction in the WestUnion Construction in the EastImmigrant Irish and Chinese WorkersScandals and Hell on WheelsThe Golden SpikeAnd much more!
So if you want a concise and informative book on the Transcontinental Railroad, simply scroll up and click the "Buy now" button for instant access!