Transportation Revolution And The Market Revolution In The 1800's

The Transportation Revolution and the Market Revolution Before the 1800’s, the transportation of goods and people across the nation was slow, difficult, and overall desperately needed improvement. During the years 1800 to 1860, the Transportation Revolution took place. The Transportation Revolution opened travel and settlement to fuel economic growth; This encouraged invention and innovation into the settlers of the coast which brought them to the heartland. This revolution allowed for new and improved forms of transportation to emerge; Roads, steamboats, canals, and railroads were the main four forms of revolutionary transportation. In the early 1800’s, Westward Expansion resulted in the demand for better road systems due to such poor quality. Between local and state governments and other private companies, more than 4,000 miles of turnpikes were built by 1821. In 1806, the National Road is funded by the Federal government; The road was completed in the year 1836.

This form of travel allowed people to travel much quicker on round trip shipping to rivers of Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri. Steamboats also facilitated the grown of urban areas such as St. Louis and New Orleans. The result of the steamboat was the first ever demand for regulation of private industry from the people. During this same time period, there was an increasing need for alternative waterways so canals were built in order to fill this need. Canals are artificial man-made waterways that are built to allow boats to transport goods or people quicker and easier, thus more efficiently. The Erie Canal was built in 1825, running 364 miles from New York City to the Great Lakes. Erie facilitated the West’s commercialization of goods which resulted in the promotion of western settlement and eventually established New York City as the commercial and financial center of the United