Abstract

"'The Men of the Church Must Go by Steam': Religion and Business in Antebellum America"

Aaron Marrs, Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State (awmarrs@icloud.com)

The Transportation Revolution in the United States—the application of steam power to water and land transit in the early nineteenth century—was wrought by transportation companies bound up in a web of relationships. Wherever they went, corporations had to address the concerns of a host of community groups.
One such group affected by the growth of steam transit was religious leaders. American religious leaders had a multifaceted response to steam transportation. Some, to be sure, were resolutely opposed to the intrusion of steam into their communities, particularly if it led to violations of the sabbath. And others worried that transportation could more quickly bring sin and temptation to spoil the bucolic countryside, or that the laborers on the railroad would prove detrimental to community harmony.
But far more religious leaders were interested in the possibilities that steam transit could hold, such as helping spread the gospel if it made the distribution of religious tracts easier to undertake. Others saw those working on railroads or steamboats as ripe targets for conversion to Christianity, so they could then share the gospel as they traveled. And others saw in railroad and steamboat accidents a powerful lesson from God, that mankind should not get to haughty about its own accomplishments. For these leaders, the sudden death that accidents could bring was a reminder that mankind’s future was ultimately not on its own hands, but controlled by God.
Examining this particular aspect of history will help us understand how communities reacted as businesses expand their reach. This paper draws on numerous religious newspapers published during the antebellum area, as well as sermons delivered at the funerals of people killed by railroads and steamboats.