The Transportation Revolution By: Zack Hoover

What is the Transportation Revolution? The Transportation Revolution was a rapid growth in speed and convenience of transportation. It helped create a boom in business across the country, mostly by speed. These improvements were made possible by the expansion of roads and canals and the invention of two new forms of transportation: the steamboat and the railroad.

Who? Eli Whitney- In 1793, Eli Whitney created the Cotton gin, which was one of the beginning machines and technology of the Industrial Revolution. Robert Fulton- Robert Fulton created the Clermont in 1807, a steamboat that would be used to carry cargo and passengers from the across the Hudson River to New York City. It required a powerful and noisy engine, but gave a smooth comfortable ride. It set a new standard in river travel that lowered the cost of shipping goods and improved the transporting of goods and passengers.

The Steamboat

Fulton's steamboat was called the Clermont Fulton's steamboat was called the Clermont. He made the trip in thirty-two hours and successfully demonstrated to the world the possibilities of steam navigation. The steamboat was well-suited to river travel because it could move quickly against the current and did not rely on uncertain winds. Because of the demand for steamboat ferry service, within a few months, Fulton and his partners regained all the money they spent on building the steamboat.

The Train

Railroad Fever soon spread across the country Railroad Fever soon spread across the country. Railroad companies laid about 2,800 miles of track by 1840- some 1,000 more miles of track than existed in all of Europe. In the United States, many railroads had to run up and down steep mountains, around tight curves, and over swift rivers. Railroad companies also built the tracks quickly and often with the least-expensive material. In the future, engineers and mechanics built heavier, faster, and more powerful steam locomotives. By 1860 there were around 30,000 miles of railroad linking almost every major city of the United States.