Steam and Steel: The Eastern Shore of Virginia 1870-1884 - Paperback

The years following the Civil War were fraught with change for the people of the Virginia counties of Accomack and Northampton on the Eastern Shore of Chesapeake Bay. War had altered patterns of trade two hundred years old and had accelerated change in agriculture and the fisheries. Moreover, the end of slavery required new economic, social, and political arrangements. As Eastern Shoremen struggled with these challenges, Northern capitalists eyed investment opportunities on the conquered peninsula. In Steam and Steel: The Eastern Shore of Virginia, 1870-1884, Brooks Miles Barnes describes how improved transportation by rail and water set in motion the Eastern Shore's economic and cultural colonization by the industrial North.