The Transportation Revolution
Steam Power: 1807: Robert Fulton invents the steamship Impact: Water travel and shipping becomes easier, faster and cheaper. More goods and people can be moved further.
Roads: 1811: The government began to build the National Road Impact: Families travelled west on the National Road from Maryland to the Mississippi River. More people settled in the west.
Canals: Erie Canal: Work began in 1817 and finished in It connected the Hudson River in New York to the Great Lakes. It was 350 miles long By 1840: The canals were replaced by the railroads.
Railroads: In 1828: The United States gets railroad technology from England. 1830: Peter Cooper tests his locomotive By 1840: Cities of Cleveland, Detroit, Chicago and St. Louis are connected by railroad