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The Clinton Bridge Case was an important litigation in the United States Supreme Court, 1870, which established the doctrine by which railroad bridges may be said to have gained clear recognition of their rights of way in preference to the navigable waters crossed by them, through the power of Congress to regulate interstate commerce.
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The Patrons of Husbandry (or Grangers as they were popularly known) were an American secret association devoted to the promotion of agricultural interests, organised in Washington in 1867. By 1875 it had 1.5 million member across the USA, both men and women. Though fundamentally non-political, the Patrons of Husbandry exerted considerable political influence in contests with the railroad corporations for cheaper rates.
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A railway is a road made by placing on the ground on a specially prepared track, continuous parallel lines of iron or steel rails, on which carriages with flanged wheels are run with little friction and consequently at high velocity. The necessity for railways originated in the requirements of the coal-traffic of Northumberlandshire, where the first railways were constructed. In 1676 near Newcastle the coals were conveyed from the mines to the banks of the river by laying rails of timber straight and parallel; and bulky carts were made, with four rollers fitting those rails, whereby the carriage was made so easy that one horse could draw four or five chaldrons of coal.
The first railway (railroad) constructed in America was projected by Gridley Bryant in 1825, and extended from Quincy, Massachusetts, to the nearest tide-water. It was four miles long. The second railway extended from mines near Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania to the Lehigh River. It was begun in 1827. Stephenson's locomotive came into use in 1829, and by 1830 there were twenty-three
miles of railway completed in the United States.
The New York Central road was projected in 1825; the Boston and Albany in 1827; the Baltimore and Ohio in 1828; the Pennsylvania in 1827; the Maryland and South Carolina in 1828.
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The Underground Railroad was a secret and philanthropical organisation which existed in the USA and Canada during the later years of slavery with the object of helping slaves escape bondage. Its chief centre was in Philadelphia. The Underground Railroad was a network of 'safe houses' and individuals who aided escaped slaves by providing them with food, shelter and money, to travel primarily to Canada where they automatically became freemen.
The Underground Railroad movement originated among the Quakers of Pennsylvania, and the system was gradually extended until a chain of stations was established a day's journey apart and leading from Kentucky and Virginia across Ohio, and from Maryland through Pennsylvania and New York to Canada. The stations were private houses, and the inmates were known to be pledged to the cause. The fugitives reached these stations after nightfall, were fed and clothed when it was necessary and given a night's rest. The sick were provided with a place in which to remain until they were restored to health.
Levi Coffin, a Quaker, and the reputed president of the organization, assisted in the escape of about 100 slaves annually for many years. He always had a carriage in readiness to convey the fugitives to a place of safety and organized sewing circles to provide clothing for the destitute. Harriet Tubman, a Black woman, who had escaped North, made nineteen journeys to the South and brought back bands of fugitives always without detection. The greatest secrecy was observed in all of the movements of the organization. The Underground Railroad was formally organized in 1838, but did not reach its perfection until the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law in 1850 aroused the Abolitionists to still greater exertions.
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The Union Pacific Railroad was the first railway built across North America. It started from the Missouri at Omaha and met the Central Pacific Railroad building eastwards from San Francisco.
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Andrew Carnegie was an American industrialist and philanthropist. He was born at Dunfermline in 1835 and died in 1919. In May 1848 his parents left Dunfermline for America, settling in Pittsburgh. His prosperity began with the formation of the Pullman Palace Car Company which received a large contract from the Union Pacific Railroad; while Carnegie himself became manager of the Pittsburgh division of the Pennsylvania Railroad, a position he held until after the civil war. After a visit to Scotland in 1868 he broke new ground by founding the Union Mills, Pittsburgh, for the manufacture of steel rails, which he noted were being preferred to those of iron. He also acquired the Edgar Thomson Steel Works, and in 1875 all the concerns in which he was interested were amalgamated under the title of 'Carnegie Brothers and Co'. In 1883 the Homestead Steel Works were acquired, and along with several other works, were formed into one concern under the title 'The Carnegie Steel Company Limited'. Carnegie became very popular through his
benevolence, assisting the establishment of local libraries and church organs, paying class fees for students at Scottish universities and making donations to other universities and technical schools. In April 1905 he presented two million pounds sterling to provide pensions for teachers in American universities and colleges.
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Cornelius Vanderbilt (Commodore Vanderbilt) was an American capitalist. He was born in 1794 and died in 1877. The son of a small farmer he began in business at the age of sixteen by ferrying passengers and goods between New York and Staten Island. In 1851 he established a steamship line between New York and California via Nicaragua. In 1855 he established a line between New York and Havre. In 1857 he turned his attention to railways, and became one of the foremost 'railroad kings' in America. In 1867 becoming president of the New York Central Railway. He founded Vanderbilt University at Nashville, Tennessee.
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Dean Richmond was an American businessman and politician. He was born in 1804 and died in 1866. He gained an enviable reputation for his upright dealings in business. He was a leader of the Democratic party in New York. He secured the consolidation of the New York Central Railroad.
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George Brinton McClellan was an American soldier, writer and politician. He was born in 1826 at Philadelphia and died in 1885. Educated at the University of Pennsylvania and at West Point, after graduating from West Point in 1846 he took a commission in the Engineers and served as a lieutenant under Scott in the Mexican War, and was promoted to captain for his services. After the war he worked as an instructor at West Point, leaving in 1855 and went to Europe to study military affairs, and to follow the course of the Crimean War, and he published as a result, The Armies of Europe.
For a few years he was engineer for the Illinois Central Railroad, and a railroad president. At the outbreak of the American Civil War he was appoinred major-general and entrusted with command in West Virginia and he broke up Garnett's army, and was summoned to Washington after the Bull Run catastrophe. In August, 1861, he became commander of the Army of the Potomac, and in November he succeeded General Scott as commander-in-chief. McClellan's services in organizing the army were invaluable. Excess of caution and friction between the Washington authorities and himself led to disappointments in his achievements against the enemy. He commanded through the Peninsula campaign, executing his famous 'change of base', was relieved of the command, reappointed on September the 7th, 1862, after Pope's disasters, and commanded in the Antietam campaign. On November the 7th he was removed and placed on waiting orders. He resigned from the army in 1864, and was the same year the Democratic candidate for President, receiving twenty-one electoral votes. He was Governor of New Jersey from 1878 to 1881. 'Little Mac' was phenomenally popular with the soldiers of the Army of the Potomac in spite of outside criticism.
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John Pope was an American politician. He was born in 1770 and died in 1845. He represented Kentucky in the US Senate as a Democrat from 1807 to 1813. He was Territorial Governor of Arkansas from 1829 to 1835. He represented Kentucky in the US Congress from 1837 to 1843.
John Pope was an American soldier. He was born in 1822 at Louisville, Kentucky and died in 1892. Educated at the military academy at West Point, he served with distinction in the Mexican War, and was also engaged at different times on surveying and engineering work including the exploration of Minnesota and the survey of the Pacific Railroad. In 1861 he received a command in Missouri. Shortly after the outbreak of the American Civil War he was appointed Brigadier-general in 1861, and was generally successful, until defeated by Lee and Jackson at the second Battle of Bull Run in 1862, a defeat for which John Pope blamed McCellan and Fitz-John Porter. At his request, John Pope was relieved of his command and transferred to the North-West Department to keep the Indians in subjection. He retired from the army in 1886.
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