Railways symbolized civilization-building in Africa and America but destruction in Europe.

Evidence

Like the French in West Africa, the Americans had linked transportation and civilization in the mid-nineteenth century. This celebration of the creative impact of the railroad was, according to Schivelbusch, fundamentally different from the European reaction to the steam engine. In Europe, the mechanization of transportation had been associated-at least initially-with the destruction of a traditional artisan culture. But in both Africa and the United States, the perception was that steam power “gained a new civilization from hitherto worthless wilderness” (p. 91). — Alice L. Conklin, A Mission to Civilize_ The Republican…, 991

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s interest in how France framed its civilizing mission in West Africa — the railroad-as-empire theme resonates with the ADDENDUM article on trees-as-infrastructure in its shared concern with infrastructure as civilization-builder.