1. American Development after Louisiana Purchase The construction of the Erie Canal, the development of American Infrastructure, the rise of New York City, and the Monroe Doctrine

2. National Infrastructure Infrastructure = the fundamental facilities and systems serving a country, city, or area as transportation and communication systems, power plants, and schools After the expansion of American territories, many families began traveling westward to claim new land However, they faced problems: time and cost At the beginning of the 19 th century transportation included carts, wagons, sleighs, stagecoaches, and other inefficient means of travel Cost of moving goods was a large problem for farmers and merchants  the need to build better transportation systems In an effort to improve the overland transportation, some states chartered the building of turnpikes (roads where users pay a toll) However, only a few were actually profitable; and the country’s only decent road was the National Road (funded by the federal government) which extended from MD to the Ohio River

3. National Infrastructure In response to this, private companies began building the young nation’s roads Where roads could not be built, barges were used on rivers to carry people and goods This only useful when the river flowed in the same direction the travelers were headed in The next major advancement in transportation was the steamboat Run by burning coal/ wood, the engine boiled water to create steam People were able to purchase tickets from private companies to ride the boats up and down the stream easily, even against the current Why is this significant? The steam power ships also changed they way America conducted transatlantic travel Travel time was cut down dramatically

4. National Infrastructure The next set of infrastructure innovations were canals—artificial rivers Built in the wilderness where rivers didn’t run and roads couldn’t be built These waterways were designed for travel by barges in the water, and there were trails built alongside for horses and mules to pull the barge Mostly built in the Northeast, canals provided efficient transportation that linked farms to cities The nation’s system of canals expanded tremendously The best known canal of the era is Erie Canal, completed in 1825, running across New York State to Lake Erie to the Hudson River It took 8 years to construct and thousands of laborers, mostly immigrants It used to cost merchants $100 to ship goods that distance; the Erie Canal lowered the cost to $4 By funneling western produce to the Hudson River, the Erie Canal helped make New York City the nation’s greatest commercial center

5. National Infrastructure The most dramatic advance in transportation, actually came with the development of railroads Railroads originally appeared in Britain Horse pulled railroads soon became steam-powered engines, which made it easier to pull heavier loads at higher speeds As a result of these innovations, technology advanced in America The introduction of the concept of interchangeable parts (identical parts that could be replaced with another; think about how we can replace car parts) The telegraph New technology also helped farmers The introduction of the steel plow by John Deere helped farmers produce more easily

6. The Effects of National Infrastructure: NYC New York City became the nation’s greatest commercial city The Erie Canal had linked the nation’s farms to the nation’s harbors, as well as to the Europeans Population in NYC also grew exponentially (a lot), and it was home to many artisans and crafts workers Banking and commercial activities would soon make it the leading city in all of North America

7. The Monroe Doctrine Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars, Spanish colonies gained their independence In 1823, talks of a Franco-Spanish alliance appeared possible