Process Paper
I started out unsure about which way I wanted to narrow down my original topic, Transportation Innovations during the Industrial Revolution. I chose railroads and from there, I focused in on the economic effects that railroads had at that time. However, that topic was still too broad so I decided to narrow it down further to state/federal involvement in railroads.
This is a turning point in American history because up until that point the government was more laissez-faire, but after the Civil War they started to take a more active role in the economy. I started out with a broad topic, so I was trying from the start to find a way to narrow down. In-depth sources are important, but I wanted to get context on the major events in railroad development, and how those events fit in with other things going on at the time. I looked up some timelines that gave me a good sense of context. In continuing my research, I looked for more specific sources, including more primary sources. The books I got were big, so I continued reading them and found out more about all the aspects of railroads in the Industrial Revolution. After this, I refined my topic down to government involvement in the railroad industry. The research I had done so far was still relevant, but I searched for specific situations when the government was involved. One of the first things mentioned in a brief entry was the “Wabash Case” so I looked that up and found a transcript of the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway Company v. Illinois case. This is a great primary source that gives insight to the case that limited states ability to control interstate commerce. It led to the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission, another example of government involvement. I was able to find a copy and transcript of the Interstate Commerce Act on a different website, which was excellent because those two events were what I decided to have as my topic. Since I chose to focus on the change from laissez-faire economics, I searched for and found An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith. This book is “seen as the beginnings of laissez-faire capitalism” (Mason) so even though it wasn’t related to my event, it was written around the time and is a relevant primary source.
I chose to work individually because the demands of scheduling meetings with a group and the extra requirements did not appeal to me, and I chose a website because that is the required category. I chose a theme for my website that looked clean and uncluttered, because I did not want a messy-looking website. I also tried to keep the formatting the same between pages.
Government involvement in the industrial railroad industry was a turning point in American History because the government up until that point had not really been a presence in the economy. The participation of state and federal governments in the goings-on of the railroads was a change from the laissez-faire policy of the previous time. Since railroads were a significant part of the economy, involvement there was an important turning point.
I started out unsure about which way I wanted to narrow down my original topic, Transportation Innovations during the Industrial Revolution. I chose railroads and from there, I focused in on the economic effects that railroads had at that time. However, that topic was still too broad so I decided to narrow it down further to state/federal involvement in railroads.
This is a turning point in American history because up until that point the government was more laissez-faire, but after the Civil War they started to take a more active role in the economy. I started out with a broad topic, so I was trying from the start to find a way to narrow down. In-depth sources are important, but I wanted to get context on the major events in railroad development, and how those events fit in with other things going on at the time. I looked up some timelines that gave me a good sense of context. In continuing my research, I looked for more specific sources, including more primary sources. The books I got were big, so I continued reading them and found out more about all the aspects of railroads in the Industrial Revolution. After this, I refined my topic down to government involvement in the railroad industry. The research I had done so far was still relevant, but I searched for specific situations when the government was involved. One of the first things mentioned in a brief entry was the “Wabash Case” so I looked that up and found a transcript of the Wabash, St. Louis & Pacific Railway Company v. Illinois case. This is a great primary source that gives insight to the case that limited states ability to control interstate commerce. It led to the creation of the Interstate Commerce Commission, another example of government involvement. I was able to find a copy and transcript of the Interstate Commerce Act on a different website, which was excellent because those two events were what I decided to have as my topic. Since I chose to focus on the change from laissez-faire economics, I searched for and found An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith. This book is “seen as the beginnings of laissez-faire capitalism” (Mason) so even though it wasn’t related to my event, it was written around the time and is a relevant primary source.
I chose to work individually because the demands of scheduling meetings with a group and the extra requirements did not appeal to me, and I chose a website because that is the required category. I chose a theme for my website that looked clean and uncluttered, because I did not want a messy-looking website. I also tried to keep the formatting the same between pages.
Government involvement in the industrial railroad industry was a turning point in American History because the government up until that point had not really been a presence in the economy. The participation of state and federal governments in the goings-on of the railroads was a change from the laissez-faire policy of the previous time. Since railroads were a significant part of the economy, involvement there was an important turning point.
Annotated Bibliography Download
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