The Industrial Revolution completely changed the way people traveled and how goods were transported. Before the Industrial Revolution, transportation relied on animals (like horses pulling a cart) and boats. Travel was slow and difficult. It could take months to travel across the United States in the early 1800s. Show  Steamboats by William M. DonaldsonSteamboats and Rivers One of the best ways to travel and ship goods before the Industrial Revolution was the river. Boats could travel downstream quite easily using the current. Traveling upstream was much more difficult, however. The problem of traveling upstream was solved during the Industrial Revolution by the steam engine. In 1807, Robert Fulton built the first commercial steamboat. It used steam power to travel upstream. Steamboats were soon used to transport people and goods along rivers throughout the country. Canals In order to make better use of water transportation, canals were built to connect rivers, lakes, and oceans. The most important canal built in the United States was the Erie Canal. The Erie Canal ran 363 miles and connected Lake Erie to the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean. It was completed in 1825 and became a source of commerce and travel from the western states to New York. Railroads The invention of the railroad and the steam powered locomotive opened up a whole new world in transportation. Now trains could travel wherever tracks could be built. Transportation was no longer limited to rivers and canals. Starting around 1830, railroads began to be constructed in the eastern part of the United States. Soon they stretched across the country with the First Transcontinental Railroad completed in 1869. Railroads changed the culture of the United States and made the country seam much smaller. Before railroads, it could take months to travel across the United States. California seemed like a different world from east coast cities like New York and Boston. By the 1870s, a person could travel from New York to California in just a few days. Letters, goods, and packages could also be transported much faster. Macadam Road Construction by Carl Rakeman (1823) Roads Even with steamboats and railroads, people still needed a better way to travel between rivers and train stations. Before the Industrial Revolution, roads were often poorly maintained dirt roads. During the Industrial Revolution, the government became more involved in building and maintaining good roads. A new process called the "macadam" process was used to create smooth gravel roads. In the 19th century, as the United States spread across the continent, transportation systems helped connect the growing nation. First rivers and roads and then canals and railroads moved travelers and agricultural and manufactured goods between farms, towns, and cities. Transportation links helped create a set of distinct local and regional economies. They also contributed to the sectional jealousies and rivalries that set the stage for the Civil War. Not until the end of the century would transportation networks form a national economy. RoadsIn the early 19th century, most roads were dreadful. They served local needs, allowing farmers to get produce to market. Americans who did travel long distances overland to settle the West rode on wagon trails, like the Oregon Trail, rather than well-defined roads. Still, a few major roads served as important transportation links. The National Road, initially funded by the federal government, stretched from Cumberland, Maryland, to Columbus, Ohio by 1833. View object record National Road Milepost, about 1840 View object record The Fairview Inn near Baltimore, a stopping place on the National Road, 1827 Steamboats The first commercially successful steamboat was tested on the Hudson River in 1807. Steamboats were soon introduced on most navigable rivers. They allowed commerce and travel both upstream and down, and encouraged trade by lowering costs and saving time. By 1830, steamboats dominated American river transportation. View object record Ship Model, Steamboat Buckeye State View object recordCanals The Erie Canal, built with state funding, was completed in 1825. Running from the Hudson River to the Great Lakes, it was a major economic artery through New York. Its economic success sparked a wave of canal building. By 1840, the United States had 3,326 miles of canals. View object record Plate, Erie Canal View object recordThis ceramic plate commemorates the opening of the Erie Canal. View object record Scene of the Erie Canal at Buffalo View object recordRalph Stevenson of Staffordshire, England produced this whiteware plate around 1830. View object record DeWitt Clinton $1000 Test Note View object recordDeWitt Clinton, depicted on this US Treasury Test Note was a New York politician and champion of the Erie Canal. View object record James Griswold Surveyor's Chain View object recordJames Griswold used this surveyor's chain as one of his tools in constructing the Erie Canal. View object record Rittenhouse Wye Level View object recordThis is one of the earliest wye levels in America, made by Benjamin Rittenhouse around 1785. RailroadsSteam railroads began to appear in the United States around 1830, and dominated the continental transportation system by the 1850s. By 1860 there were roughly 31,000 miles of track in the country, concentrated in the Northeast but also in the South and Midwest. View object record Railroad Hand-Signal Lantern, ca. 1850 View object recordView object record Central Pacific Railroad Telegraph Key View object recordExcursion train on the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad, 1858 A Century of Progress? In 1876, the United States celebrated its centennial. As a result of purchase, diplomacy, and war, the nation spread from coast to coast. Some people were enthusiastic, seeing it as an expression of the young country's 'manifest destiny,' its inevitable growth. Others, including many Native Americans and many people living in U.S. territories that used to be part of Mexico, held differing views. For those enthusiastic about expansion, the completion of a transcontinental railroad link in 1869 was the achievement of the age. The vast reaches of the country were bound together as never before. Americans could imagine themselves marching to the beat of technological progress, free from the constraints of time and distance. Promontory Summit, Utah, 1869.Courtesy of the Oakland Museum of California , Andrew J. Russell Collection This famous photo was taken moments after the completion of North America's first transcontinental rail line. On May 10, 1869, Leland Stanford, president of the Central Pacific Railroad Company and Thomas Clark Durant, Union Pacific Railroad Company vice president, drove the last spike at Promontory, Utah, linking the eastern railroad system to California. In six years, more than 20,000 workers' Chinese (absent from this picture), Irish, and others had laid down some 1,700 miles of track in the largest American civil-works project to that time. Centennial American Republic and Railroad Map of the United States and of the Dominion of Canada, 1875. Courtesy of Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division This map shows the extent of the growing railroad network. It is decorated with icons of the American past and visions of progress, such as the Centennial Exhibition building in Philadelphia. In the 20 years that followed the centennial, American railroad companies added more than 100,000 miles of track to the system, further connecting the nation's economy, politics, and cultures. How did transportation improve in the early 1800s?Waterways and a growing network of railroads linked the frontier with the eastern cities. Produce moved on small boats along canals and rivers from the farms to the ports. Large steamships carried goods and people from port to port. Railroads expanded to connect towns, providing faster transport for everyone.
Why was transportation important in the 1800s?In the 19th century, as the United States spread across the continent, transportation systems helped connect the growing nation. First rivers and roads and then canals and railroads moved travelers and agricultural and manufactured goods between farms, towns, and cities.
What was one result of improved transportation systems during the 1800s?America's economic transformation in the early 1800s was linked to dramatic changes in transportation networks. Construction of roads, canals, and railroads led to the expansion of markets, facilitated the movement of peoples, and altered the physical landscape.
What were the most significant developments in transportation in the early 1800s?In America during the 19th century, the invention of the steam engine dramatically improved shipping by water and created a new transportation industry—the railroad. By the end of the century, some steam locomotives began to be powered by electricity.
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