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Industrial Revolution Waterway

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From the beginning of civilization, societies and communities have always depended on the waters. One of the reasons is because it is a good means of transporting goods and people. When the English settlers arrived, the roads in the New World were not suitable for mass transportation because they were very bumpy and muddy. Meanwhile, different places around the world had already started creating waterways as a mode of better transportation. For the New World, Britain helped introduce the idea of inland waterways, which are basically navigable waterways away from the coasts, such as canals. During the British Industrial Revolution, they needed to find additional ways to transport goods besides using horses. The inland waterway was the answer …show more content…

During this time period, transportation by water was the fastest and the cheapest way to carry mass products (“Industrial Revolution Research”)(“Ransdell”). The shipping industry carried coal, lumber, ore, cotton and other products to different areas (“Inland Waterways”). Cities and small towns relied on the waterways to develop their economy, such as St. Louis, Cincinnati and others. The waterways enabled the people such as merchants, traders, and explorers to the new land and lives. Thriving places where waterways were lacking new canals were constructed, for instance, the Erie Canal (“River Towns, River Networks”). The Erie Canal was to connect Lake Erie to the Hudson River and New York City (“Changes in Transportation”). This period was during Thomas Jefferson’s presidency, where he wanted a waterway that went from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific. His purpose was to expand America from sea to sea. In addition, he wanted to control the trade against Spain and France. Jefferson wanted the country to be united through a system of trade in order to boost the economy and the community (“Thomas Jefferson 's Vision for the Lewis and Clark Expedition”)(“The History of Transportation in the United States”). The waterway was instrumental to the impact of the American Industrial Revolution and the

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This constraint was placed by the natural landscape, as most of the rivers throughout North American only ran from the North the South. However, with American’s choice of creating the steamboat system they turned this constraint into an opportunity. This opportunity provided a means of water transportation throughout America. Using the same

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In the 19th century, a major way of transportation was crafted. This was called the Erie Canal. This Canal led to great economic growth throughout the United States. For example, the Canal brought in many people through the seaports in New York which made it more busy than it already was (Doc. 1a). This made New York City grow tremendously between 1830 and 1860 (Doc. 1a).

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The Erie Canal played an enormous part in the economic growth in the United States. The Canal helped to cause an increase in industry along the Hudson River. Now, commercial vessels could travel all the way from the Hudson River to Lake Erie (Doc. 1A). This meant that they could bring goods to the people that couldn’t normally get them, because they were too expensive, or they had no way to get to them. Thousands of settlers began to utilize the Erie Canal to move west (OI).

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The Creation of the Erie Canal made New York City the prime port for trading with the Old Northwest. This caused other states to try and compete with New York in order to become successful trading centers by building their own

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At the time, many were worried about the severing of the west from eastern states and how much time was left until the union effectively broke apart. But Robert Fulton, an inventor, confidently states that canals could not only boost the economy greatly, but also be able to unite the seemingly divided regions of America. In his 1807 letter to the Secretary of the Treasury, Albert Gallatin, Fulton writes, “...What stronger bonds of union can be invented than those which enable each individual to transport the produce of his industry 1,200 miles for 60 cents the hundred weight?” (Document 1, Lines 9-10). With the rapid development and construction of railroads and canals, Robert’s argument would later on prove to be correct following the construction of the Erie canal around the mid 1820s, which connected the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes.

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The Erie Canal opened up many opportunities as massive amounts of people started immigrating towards it. The canal caused the creation of cities such as Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse as the canal was along the cities’ paths. The Erie Canal was seen as a miraculous fertilizer as it caused towns to quickly spring up. The massive success of the Erie Canal set off a chain reaction that caused many other states to start creating canals of their own, which in turn fostered economic growth, as states invested in their people by investing in infrastructure. Before the invention of the steamboat, many rivers were seen as one-way streets because boats could go upstream as they were unable to fight against the current.

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The building of roads, canals and railroads played a large role in the United States during the 1800s. They served the purpose of connecting towns and settlements so that goods could be transported quickly and more efficiently. These goods could be transported fast, cheap and in safe way through the Erie Canal that was built to connect the Great Lakes to New York. Railroads were important during Civil War as well, because it helped in the transportation of goods, supplies and weapons when necessary. These new forms of transportation shaped the United States into the place that it is today.

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