Enterprise and Society Advance Access published online on October 25, 2007
Enterprise and Society, doi:10.1093/es/khm074
Railroads and Time Consciousness in the Antebellum South
AARON W. MARRS is on the editorial staff at the Office of the Historian, United States Department of State. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of South Carolina in 2006, and is currently revising his dissertation, "The Iron Horse Turns South: A History of Antebellum Southern Railroads," for publication.
E-mail: awmarrs{at}comcast.net
Historians have often looked to industrial capitalism to further our understanding of "time consciousness." This article explores time consciousness through the experience of a railroad in pre-Civil War South Carolina. Examining the South Carolina Railroad allows us to examine how time consciousness operated in a region not associated with industrial capitalism, and also see how multiple times could function simultaneously. While clocks were important to railroad operations, companies also had to address an array of non-clock times. Moreover, companies were never fully in control of their own time, but were in constant conflict and negotiation with various groups in the community. While industrialization and factory labor remain important ways to understand time consciousness, looking beyond the factory walls can help historians make better use of the analytical power of time.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are solely those of the author and are not necessarily the official views of the Office of the Historian, the U.S. Department of State, or the U.S. government.
I would like to thank Mark M. Smith, Melissa Jane Taylor, Phil Scranton, Kenneth Lipartito, and the anonymous readers of Enterprise and Society for their comments on earlier drafts of this article.