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 as- sociated-at least initially-with the destruction of a traditional artisan cul- ture. 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 …, loc. 991