Building the South: The enterprise of William C. and John D. Gray.

摘要

William C. and John D. Gray demonstrate a broad range of southern attempts at manufacturing, internal improvements, railroad building, and agriculture. The scope of their work was regional. They were significant in the early development of the American South because of the internal improvements with which they were involved and the construction and promotion of numerous railroads. They were innovators, undertaking projects of transportation and construction on the frontier.{09} The Grays were also significant in their contribution to manufacturing, particularly for the Confederate cause. They had peacetime and wartime manufacturing establishments including machine shops, foundries, and rolling mills, and they were responsible for the establishment of two towns. This study in enterprise explains and illustrates through the careers of the Grays the extent possible of capitalistic endeavors in the South. Under sometimes difficult conditions, there were avenues for full-scale manufacturing and wealth to be gained from pursuits other than agriculture. Sometimes raising capital for huge projects in the South was possible only by employing creative financing measures. Economic conditions determined and often restricted the Grays in securing a laboring force. The Grays illuminate characteristics that make up the enterprising spirit of successful entrepreneurs in the antebellum South.