ABSTRACT This article centers around the failed attempt of US engineer James Eads to link the Pacific Ocean to the Gulf of Mexico by constructing a ship railway across Mexico’s Isthmus of Tehuantepec during the 1880s. The article examines the numerous factors that contributed to the project’s failure while arguing that it was a legitimate contender among transisthmian routes of the era, represents Mississippi Valley elites’ attempt to maintain national and international influence during the Gilded Age, and is exhibitive of a foreign policy of US expansion based on international collaboration that lost ground to more unilateral approaches.

中文翻译：

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不太皇家的道路：密西西比河谷，美国的扩张主义以及工程师詹姆斯·B·埃德斯（James B. Eads）未能修建船舶铁路

摘要本文围绕美国工程师詹姆斯·埃德斯（James Eads）通过在1880年代修建一条横跨墨西哥特万特佩克地峡的船舶铁路，将太平洋与墨西哥湾连接在一起的失败尝试而进行。本文探讨了导致该项目失败的众多因素，同时认为该项目是该时代跨时代路线的合理竞争者，代表了密西西比河谷精英们在镀金时代保持国家和国际影响力的尝试，并且展示了外国基于国际合作的美国扩张政策已失去了更多的单方面方法。