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Chapter 10, Section 1
Roads and Turnpikes
• Turnpike
– Travellers paid toll for access
– Privately owned
– Lancaster Turnpike
• First one in US
Lancaster Turnpike
• National Road
– Built with federal money
– Connected Maryland to
Illinois
Canals
• New York wanted
canal to connect
NYC to western
farmlands
• Dramatically reduced
cost of shipping
goods
• NYC became leading American
city
– Great Lakes cities became
important (Chicago, Buffalo,
Cleveland)
• Inspired more canals to be built
Panic of 1837
• Roads and canals were
financed by state and
national government
– Increased government
spending
• Economic depression ended
government spending
• When Railroads were built,
used private funds to avoid
financial problems created
by canals and roads
Steamboats
• Robert Fulton made
first working
steamboat
– Sailed Hudson from NYC
to Albany
• Steamboats made
travel on Mississippi
River easier
– Were light and fast,
travelled in shallow
water
Railroads
•
1850s was decade of railroad
building
•
Americans took many risks
building railroads
•
Federal government gave public
lands to railroad companies to
encourage investment
Railroads
• Allowed growth of
towns away from
waterways
• Encouraged
immigration and
migration for labor
sources
• Replaced canals as
primary transportation
of goods
Post Offices
• Improved
transportation led to
improved
communication
– 1847 beginning of
modern Postal system
– Most people still had to
go to post office to pick
up mail
Telegraph
• 1848 Samuel Morse invent
telegraph
– Send coded messages using
electricity and wires
– “dots and dashes”
• By 1858 telegraph wire
connected US to Europe