The primary purpose of the passage is to A. evaluate one scholar's view of public attitudes toward the railroad in the United States from the early nineteenth to the early twentieth century B. review the treatment of the railroad in American literature of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries C. survey the views of cultural historians regarding the railroad's impact on major events in United States history D. explore the origins of the public support for the railroad that existed after the completion of a national rail system in the United States E. define what historians mean when they refer to the "romantic-era distrust" of the railroad