Date of Award

Summer 2011

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

History

Committee Director

Timothy J. Orr

Committee Member

Carolyn J. Lawes

Committee Member

John Weber

Abstract

The American South contained few iron industries in the decades before the Civil War. Not until the Civil War did southern states produce significant quantities of vital industrial products, such as iron. Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, Virginia, was a rare exception. Under the ownership of Joseph R. Anderson, the company established a national reputation for quality products. Prior to the war, Tredegar did business with northerners and with the Federal government. During the war, Tredegar became one of the main weapons suppliers to the Confederate military. Since this iron company physically and economically survived the war, Anderson regained many of his antebellum contracts. A few new iron industries appeared throughout the South during Reconstruction, but they lacked the capital resources necessary for immediate success – capital that Anderson had less trouble acquiring. Although Tredegar ultimately failed to make the transition to steel, the company represented a route to industrialization not experienced in other southern states, making Tredegar's experience, and thus Richmond's experience, unique from other southern companies and cities.

Rights

In Copyright. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

DOI

10.25777/fv8n-jm85

ISBN

9781124929057

Download

Share

COinS