Railroads, Reconstruction, and the Gospel of Prosperity

This book describes the southern Republicans' post- Civil War railroad aid program--the central element of the Gospel of Prosperity"e; designed to reestablish a vigorous economy in the devastated South. Conceding that race and Unionism were basic issues, Mark W. Summers explores a neglected facet of the postwar era: the attempt to build a new South and a biracial Republican majority through railro...