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