Chapter 11, lesson 2 Moving West
Daniel Boone & Wilderness Road 1790, 1st census: official count of population, 4 million people, most lived between Appalachian Mts & Atlantic Ocean 1769 Daniel Boone, early pioneer, explored Native American trail through App Mts “Warriors Path” led to break in mts: “Cumberland Gap” 1775 got 30 foresters to cut trees and move rocks, widen path becomes “Wilderness Road”
Building Roadways Private companies built turnpikes: toll roads, fees paid by travelers helped pay for roads Ohio asked fed gov’t to build road to connect w/ east, began 1811 War of 1812 paused, 1st section open 1818
National Road
Traveling on Rivers River travel was easier than roads Needed to ship east/west Problems 1)most rivers flowed north/south, 2)downstream easy & upstream slow Steam engines not enough power to go in strong currents & wind
Clermont’s 1st Voyage 1802 Robert Livingston hired Robert Fulton to build a powerful steamboat to sail Hudson River 1807 Fulton launched his steamboat, Clermont Made the 150 mile trip in 32 hours Sailboat would have taken 4 days Comfortable, smooth ride; could sleep below deck 1850, 700 steamboats in US
New Waterways Steamboats linked cities on major rivers, not east to west DeWitt Clinton led group to link NYC w/ Great Lakes Connect Hudson River w/ Buffalo on Lake Erie Canal: artificial waterway
Erie Canal 363 miles, had a series of locks: separate compartments in which water levels rise & fall to raise and lower boats Many workers died from cave-ins and explosions, disease in swamps After 8+ years, opened 10/26/1825, Gov of NY Clinton sailed from Buffalo to Albany on canal, then down Hudson to NYC to Atlantic
Move West Continues More canals linked growing country Added 4 states 1791-1803: Vermont, Tennessee, Kentucky, Ohio 1816-1821: Indiana, Illinois, Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri 1800: 387,000 white settlers west of App Mts 1820: 2.4 million Moved w/ friends & neighbors
Erie Canal http://youtu.be/S7_Hr3iCPls