Summary On The Transcontinentals And The Making Of Modern America

Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America looks at the way that railroad owners found a way to turn that business into a big business and earn millions upon millions for themselves. A majority of the book shows how the railroad owners received lots of money for the corruption and other behind the scenes deals that went on. The railroad for how corrupt it was, unfortunately shaped the way America was built and became the superior power that it is in the present day. During the introduction part of the book, White shows the reader a map of the western railroads in 1879, and then again in 1885. The amount of railroad lines that were added during those years is surprising, in that at this time period they could construct several different railroads. White states that
This started causing issues throughout the companies and the skilled workers they had hired. The upper management wanted the power to hire and fire people, but the crews wanted that power because they knew what it took to work and build the tracks. White writes, “Allowed skilled workers to institute their own practices and to a remarkable degree impose them on the companies” (White 2011, 238). It was not surprising that there were company and worker disputes due to the amount of work that companies demanded from the workers. White also discusses that the workers had the upper hand in the disputes because the owners would lose money if the workers stopped working and laying the tracks (White 2011, 239). With the increase of technology it eased tensions between both sides, but it was a victory for the workers because the machines did not have to battle the sun and heat like they did. The owners were just looking for a way to keep even more money rather than having to spend it on machines they could need repair work done after a while unlike a worker who can be