Broader Ribbons Across The Land Essay

Matthew Nuanez
11/15/2015
HIST151
Paper 2 The passage of the National System of Interstate and Defense Highway Act in 1956 is acknowledged by some historians as a highly significant piece of legislation passed by United States congress. The act created an abundance of jobs and changed the scene in America by leading to the growth of suburbs, a decline in inner cities, and a rise to new business (Snyder). The essay by Logan Thomas Snyder "Broader Ribbons across the Land" questions the passage of the act due to the acts purpose of creating the easier movement for armies in case of war. However, Snyder concludes the passage "The crowning achievement of Ike's administration" (page 263) due to the economic, social, political and cultural impact

It begins by starting how timely and costly travel was during Post-World War one in America. WWI was known as "a war of movement" (page264). At the time of the post-war, the First Transcontinental Motor convoy was an army expedition sent to transverse the nation from Washington DC to San Francisco. Apart of this expedition was Lieutenant Colonel Dwight Eisenhower whose duty it was to observe the expeditions travel (Snyder). Overall the travel, which included 34 cargo trucks took 62 days upon setting out. Lt Eisenhower observed many roads that received no attention and roads that were in such rough shape that it was difficult to travel on (Synder). The experience of Eisenhower gave insight into a major problem of moving a large army and material across the land in case of war. The experience convinced him of the necessity of building the infrastructure to assist with moving armies and material. Alongside the FTMC experience, Eisenhower was in command of the Allied forces in an Operation to evict Axis powers in North Africa (Synder). The result of operation gave insight into the Nazi's highway system that allowed them to travel fast and move larger quantities of men and material. The experience of the FTMC and command of Allied forces in Africa was enough for Eisenhower during his presidency in 1953 to push for a building of an interstate highway system (Snyder). In 1956, Eisenhower signed the Federal-Aid Highway Act which guaranteed full funding for the soon to be National Highway Defense system project (Snyder). The results of the NHDS was significant. The NHDS provided 50,000 miles of road which spanned across the nation (Snyder). This allowed for a sense of unity among the nation because everyone now seemed connected, thanks to the creation of better roads. Another result was an amount of tourist's attractions the NHDS