Editing Reconstruction era (section)

===Railroad subsidies and payoffs===
[[File:Atlanta roundhouse ruin3.jpg|thumb|Atlanta's [[rail yard]] and [[Railway roundhouse|roundhouse]] in ruins shortly after the end of the Civil War]]

Every Southern state subsidized railroads, which modernizers believed could haul the South out of isolation and poverty. Millions of dollars in bonds and subsidies were fraudulently pocketed. One ring in North Carolina spent $200,000 in bribing the legislature and obtained millions of state dollars for its railroads. Instead of building new track, however, it used the funds to speculate in bonds, reward friends with extravagant fees, and enjoy lavish trips to Europe.{{sfnp|Foner|1988|p=387}} Taxes were quadrupled across the South to pay off the railroad bonds and the school costs.

There were complaints among taxpayers because taxes had historically been low, as the planter elite was not committed to public infrastructure or public education. Taxes historically had been much lower in the South than in the North, reflecting the lack of government investment by the communities.{{sfnp|Franklin|1961|pp=141–148}}{{sfnp|Summers|2014a|p={{page needed|date=October 2021}}}} Nevertheless, thousands of miles of lines were built as the Southern system expanded from {{convert|11000|mi|km}} in 1870 to {{convert|29000|mi|km}} in 1890. The lines were owned and directed overwhelmingly by Northerners. Railroads helped create a mechanically skilled group of craftsmen and broke the isolation of much of the region. Passengers were few, however, and apart from hauling the cotton crop when it was harvested, there was little freight traffic.{{sfnp|Stover|1955|p=}} As Franklin explains: "numerous railroads fed at the public trough by bribing legislators&nbsp;... and through the use and misuse of state funds". According to one businessman, the effect "was to drive capital from the state, paralyze industry, and demoralize labor".{{sfnp|Franklin|1961|pp=147–148}}