The Saga of Dakota Territory's First Railroad

Confirming the Predictions of Madison and Tocqueville
2024
ISBN: 978-3-031-71016-2
Verlag: Springer Nature Switzerland

Buch, Englisch, 173 Seiten, Format (B × H): 153 mm x 216 mm, Gewicht: 363 g

This book focuses on a key case study in the history of American territories, public works, transportation and the constitutional system of checks and balances. The saga of Yankton County’s attempt to bring the first railroad into Dakota Territory in 1873 covers 25 years of territorial history, leading up to statehood for South Dakota in 1889. Garry investigates the array of unusual facts and occurrences within the story of the Dakota Southern, which was the first railroad stretching into the Territory. Lawsuits worked themselves all the way up to the Supreme Court. The most notorious shooting in the territory occurred in connection with railroad disputes The failure of Yankton to pay interest on the bonds used to finance the railroad—a failure initially prompted by a court injunction against such payment—may have delayed statehood for the entire territory.

But the primary focus of this railroad story revolves around the way it highlights the predictions and observations of two of America’s most noted thinkers: Alexis de Tocqueville and James Madison. It shows the tension between Tocqueville’s impressions of the enterprising, risk-taking, and association-minded nature of Americans and Madison’s warnings about a federal government exercising unprecedented powers and having expanded beyond adequate checks. It works through the abstract observations of Tocqueville and Madison with tangible examples that are still relevant today.

Zielgruppe

Research

Autoren/Hrsg.

Garry, Patrick M.

Fachgebiete

• Wirtschaftswissenschaften Wirtschaftssektoren & Branchen Transport- und Verkehrswirtschaft
• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtsphilosophie, Rechtsethik
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte einzelner Länder Amerikanische Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Kultur- und Ideengeschichte
• Rechtswissenschaften Recht, Rechtswissenschaft Allgemein Rechtsgeschichte, Recht der Antike

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: A Fulfillment of Predictions.- Chapter 3: The Territorial System.- Chapter 4: A Missouri River Port.- Chapter 5: Planning the Railroad.- Chapter 6: Territorial Corruption.- Chapter 7: Federal Corruption.- Chapter 8: The Supreme Court Case.- Chapter 9: More Pain to Come.- Chapter 10: The South Dakota Statehood Movement.- Chapter 11: Yankton’s Railroad Gets Swallowed.- Chapter 12: Conclusion.

Über Autor(innen)

Patrick M. Garry is Professor of Law at the University of South Dakota School of Law, USA. He has published widely on US constitutional history.