Intracoastal Waterway Research Paper

It was very clear to many after the war of 1812 that only large-scale resources available to state and federal governments could make a practical difference their transportation. Transportation was very highly risky and very uncomfortable. Immediately after the war of 1812, a political prodigy, John Calhoun, introduced legislation in Congress to finance a national transportation program tying the South and West to the rest of the nation. Congress approved it, but James Madison vetoed the bill stating that the Constitution did not authorize federal spending on such projects. But finally, Calhoun won Madison’s support by convincing the president that a government-funded national road between Cumberland, Maryland, and Wheeling, Virginia, was a military and postal necessity, therefore initial expenditure of $20,000 for the Cumberland Road was constitutional. So the construction began in 1815.

Railroads were faster and cheaper than canals to construct, and they did not freeze over in the winter. Steamboats played a vital role in the United States economy as well. They stimulated the agricultural economy of the west by providing better access to markets at a lower cost. Farmers quickly bought land near navigable rivers, because they could ship their products out to other countries. Due to the foreign trade it helped strengthen the trade relationship between New England and the Northwest. The transportation development had many positive economic changes in the United States.

in the 1800s was the expansion of the west. Since the start of ideas like Manifest Destiny, it has always been a common belief that transportation was the best way to stay connected to the rest of the country. At first roads were used for this job, with one of the most famous being the National Road which connected the Potomac and Ohio Rivers and was a total length of 620 miles. After

They built great roads that were all connected and some are even still being walked on. All

The novel The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman was an engrossing sci-fi novel. The story, largely told through flashbacks into the main characters past, were set when he was in his early childhood, specifically at age seven when he met a strange girl named Lettie Hempstock. His flashbacks are of when he met Lettie, their friendship and when everything went awry on their lane.

In Document 1A, it explains that the Erie Canal was a canal built in 1825, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to Lake Erie. It caused a huge increase in the industry along the Hudson River and made the economy of New York more important than ever. As stated in Document 1B, New York City became the busiest port in America. As stated in Document

In the early 19th century the transportation of goods between the east and west was expensive and time consuming. The normal way of transportation before the canal, was by horse drawn carriages. Then the bold idea of the Erie Canal was proposed to ease the tiring commute. The Erie canal was intentionally built to open the country west of the Appalachian Mountains to settlers. The canal would also provide a safe, cheaper way for produce to be carried to various markets. The canal then became the fastest way

3) Transcontinental Railroad: One of the first railroads built that would cross the whole country. It also helped

Roads and canals will shorten distances, effortless way to get somewhere, and facilitate commercial and personal communication. The first roads in America were developed by early settlers. “The National Road was the first highway built entirely with federal funds. The road was authorized by Congress in 1806 during the Jefferson Administration” (“The National Road” par. 1). The first 10 miles of roads were built. Wagons were slow and very difficult to use on dirt roads because of the weather. In 1811, the federal government opened the national road connecting Cumberland, Maryland to Ohio River. Road improvements may have made it possible for more people to live in a specific area, because access between that area and major job location centers is facilitated by the improved roads. Around 1821, there was around 4,000

“If any act symbolized the taming of the Northwest frontier, it was the driving of the final spike to complete the nation’s first transcontinental railroad.”1 The first railroad west of the Mississippi River was opened on December 23, 1852. Five miles long, the track ran from St. Louis to Cheltanham, Missouri. Twenty-five years prior, there were no railroads in the United States; twenty-five years later, railroads joined the east and west coasts from New York to San Francisco.2

Transportation began to fuel the American economy during the Market Revolution by adding many different ways to transport goods and to get around the country. These roads were made of mud, which happened to be quite an issue during the different seasons. In the spring,all roads turned to mud, in the summer all roads were dust and in the winter these roads were snow and ice which made it difficult to travel on. The national road was made and was the only road funded by the national government, all of the other roads were funded by private investors. The national road opened up travel through the East and the West, which began to help foster a national community. Canals were starting to expand from not only running North and South, but creating ways to get East and West as well.The farmers began an eight year long project, which was taken over by Irish immigrants and they created the Erie

Canals, waterways built for transportation, were also built for the shipment of goods and with the creation of the steamboat, canals could be used effectively. Another totally new form of transportation, the railroad, was created and by the time the 1860s hit, more than 30,000 miles of railroad tracks had been set down. Lastly, the telegraph

This made it very hard for the individual states to come up with the money. Usually private investors took care of this issue (Roark, 260). Canals were another way for an increase in transportation. They would connect cities, such as the Erie Canal, which covered the area between Albany and Buffalo and connecting New York City to the area of the Great Lakes (Roark, 261). Railroads also came into the picture with the first railroad, the Baltimore and Ohio in 1829 (Roark, 262).

One of these most functions was the development of infrastructure, specifically roads. The creation of the state of Ohio and thus Marietta was pertinent considering the Ohio and Muskingum Rivers that supply the area. These rivers made what is known as the Mid-Ohio Valley a promising location for expansion into the west. Furthermore, shortly after settlers arrived and began to develop this land they began building and

Transportation was improved. New forms of transportation included steam power, improved roads, railroads, bridges, canals and ships. These new improved mean of transportation allowed people to travel cross country and to ship goods to new markets in a matter of days as opposed to months. The railroads eventually became the nation’s number one transportation system, and remained so until the construction of the interstate highway halfway during the Twentieth century. The late 19th century belonged to the railroads. They were of crucial importance in stimulating economic expansion (American History).