In many ways Americans define the essence of America as movement. From nearly the earliest days that has been one of our defining characteristics, moving around, nearly always tending west but always moving and always in a hurry.
The very first thing we became famous for around the world were the clipper ships. These very fast ships from the early part of the 19th century were usually in the China trade, and the speed was essential when sailing from say Boston to Shanghai, and remember there was no Panama canal in those days, either. That is where the world first learned one of our best traditional songs
These songs developed in the China trade where they were used sort of like a cadence in weighing the anchor to help the men work together. Shenandoah speaks to a lot of American History though because our history is a history of movement.
But there is a sadness and a longing very deep in American History, and Shenandoah showcases it well. Much of American history is about saying goodbye. Good bye to our ancestors in the old country, goodbye to our family as we begin westering. The sadness in all that is because all knew that at most, the only communication they would from now on have with each other would be a few letters, if that.
But the urge to move won over that and the result is a country that built itself (Yes, Mr. President, we damned well did build it, and well too). I think that is part of the obsession we have always had with movement and speed-the urge to go home again for a visit. Many of us have no desire to stay in those teeming cities but, we would like to visit the family and friends we left behind. And so a society built on movement, swift and sure, and at the command of the individual.
That is the reason that efficiency be damned, America instantly fell in love with the automobile. It left it up to us when we went and when we stayed, no more timetables and waiting for the train, ready to go-GO. We are not a particularly patient people, we’ve never been all that interested in sightseeing, we’ve always had places to go and people to see.
Everybody, including ‘d Tocqueville has commented on both the quick-lunch and that quintessential American phrase: Real quick. “Get er done, real quick” has always been our motto.
And so our transportation history looks like this:
And Americans going all the way back to the Mexican War have had an almost instinctive understanding of the paramountcy of logistics in war. Our use of the railroads in the Civil War astounded the European observers, and because the Germans learned better was one of the causes of France’s defeat in 1870, along with Porter Alexander’s (BGEN CSA) corps artillery which everybody adopted after the war.
The American way of war has been defined as overwhelming firepower combined with extremely fast movement, both suit American tastes. Both are also built on massive, fast, and competent logistics trains.
And that love affair we have always had with movement is one reason no politician has ever succeeded long here if he sought to restrict the availability of energy. Low cost energy is the lifeblood of America, and Americans will invent ways to have it because we know that, and we just ain’t quite ready to give up on the mission yet.
Nobody has ever done it better
Related articles
- One-Way Signs: An American History (roadtrafficsigns.com)
- A History of the American Route Marker and Route 66 (roadtrafficsigns.com)
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