1800's transportation
The growth of the American economy began to boom in the first portion of the nineteenth century. Industry began to take hold of America, where it had been very slow to develop. Industry and agriculture were highly promoted by the increase in transportation technology. Transportation alone did not improve the economy; it facilitated the growth of industry and agriculture in the United States. The National Road, Railroads, and canals allowed the farmers to move produce to the east and factory owners to move their goods into the west and back again much more easily and quickly, thus causing the price of these goods to drop accordingly. Steamboats permitted the transport of goods throughout the year rather than just in the warm seasons. The lack of a keel on the boats allowed for further penetration into shallower waters and to more previously inaccessible regions of the waterways, and to move through muddy water much more easily. The Railroad system also allowed for more people to move out west and further develop agriculture in the virgin soil. The first demands for a national road were head back in 1740 when the few settlers in the “west” (the Ohio river valley) called for an avenue in which to transport their goods t
The steamboat proved to be a fundamental part of the trade between the west and east in the early part of the 1800’s. Not only did the steamboats allow upriver transportation, they allowed goods to be moved throughout the dry seasons, and into the winter up until the river froze over. Not only were the steamboats versatile, they were luxurious too. Often large lounges called saloons would help to draw passengers to a particular boat, much like the cruise ships of today. However, only a small group of people ever got to experience the grandeur of these saloons. The majority of the passengers were “deck” passengers, ones who paid quite a bit less, but were confined to sleep on the deck, as the name implies. Steamboats were also not the safest mode of transportation. Fires were a very common occurrence, due mainly to the large furnaces used to drive the steam engines, and the fuel that the boats must carry to supply them. Boiler explosion were, too, a fairly frequent incident. The lack of knowledge on the way that metals behave under pressure let to many a deadly explosion. Dangerous as they may be, steam power was still the method of choice for moving people and products along the waterways of America. o and from the east. Construction on the road began in 1811 and was completed in 7 years. The new National Road was used by everyone, from every walk of life; from cattle herders driving their animals to market, to the teamsters, like modern day truckers, were paid to transport goods as quickly as possible from point A to point B, to the settlers hoping to strike up a new life in the west. Stage lines that ran from town to town were also major presence on the road were the stage lines, some which claimed to cover 150 miles in one day. Mail was another main use of the road. The mail could
Some topics in this essay:
Mid-West Manufactures,
York Ohio,
Road Railroads,
National Road,
Illinois Central,
Chicago Cincinnati,
,
Erie Canal,
America American,
Vandalia Illinois,
national road,
stage lines,
industry agriculture,
nineteenth century,
move west,
transport quickly,
Join now to see the rest of the essay!
Approximate Word count = 1227
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)
More Essays on 1800 transportation
Professional Papers: |
CUSTOMER SERVICES
|
|
Saved Papers
You haven't saved any papers.
|
Example Essays Home
