A Growing Capitalist Nation Early Roads Steamboats and Canals Steel and The Railroad National and International Trade

Early Roads People located in the interior of the United States find that they are isolated from the those that live on the coast or located near riverways They desire markets for their goods and to purchase goods as well Early roads are unpaved foot paths and in the rain turn into “muddy swamps” The War of 1812 showed that roads were needed because supplying troops was a war unto itself

The National Road Early roads are paved with stone and covered with gravel The National Road linked the Ohio River Valley to the port of Baltimore It increased trade both on a foreign and national level by linking the central U.S. to the Eastern Coast Towns are born along roads

Building the National Road

The National Road

Canal Systems Canals provide a way to transport large goods on water quickly because ships glide on water reduces friction The Erie Canal stretch 346 miles and links Lake Erie to the Hudson River. Towns like Cleveland and Dayton Ohio become manufacturing cities. It used to cost $100 to ship a ton of grain in 1820; by 1825 it will only cost $9! Irish labor will contribute to the building of the nearly 3,400 miles of canal systems in the Eastern U.S.

The Canal System, 1850

Barge on the Erie Canal

Robert Fulton and the Clermont Robert Fulton, supported a national river transportation system Tinkered with submarine mines, studied canal boats, and ambitious Designs a steam powered paddled-wheel boat with a metal sheet covering the hull

The Impact of the Steamboat The Clermont sails up the Hudson River to Albany in By 1812, New England shoes, eastern furniture and china sets are sailing by hogs, hemp, grain and whiskey on the Hudson River Steamboats transport goods and people cheaply and quickly are dangerous. Boilers have a tendency to explode!

Steamboat loaded with cotton bales

Steamboats racing