Growth of the Northeast

Transportation Helped Cities Grow

People had two choices for travel: roads or waterways.

Roads not paved, traveling was slow.

Traveling by boat was faster.

Harbors on the coast in the northeast.

Navigable rivers flowed across the region.

Problem: they weren’t connected because the Appalachian Mountains separated waterways in the east from those in the west.

Transportation Helped Cities Grow

Solution: Linking waterways

The Erie Canal was conceived by state leaders in New York. It would connect the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean by linking Lake Erie to the canal and the canal to the Hudson and N.Y.C. on the coast.

Solution: Build better roads and miles of railroads.

By the early 1900’s better roads and railroads connected much of the Northeast.

The Erie Canal

The Industrial Revolution Helped Cities Grow

Meanwhile: As transportation improved so did industry.

Machines powered by hand were replaced by machines, which made more products, faster.

First, these factories were powered by moving water. Textile mills opened along rivers.

Later, steam engines were used to power machines in factories and to power boats and trains.

Thomas Edison opened first electric ‘power plant’ which, in time, provided electricity across the U.S.A.

Immigration Helped Cities Grow

Immigrants begin to come to northeast for many reasons.

For them, America was the land of opportunity.

There first stop was Ellis Isand, our country’s largest immigration center.

Although many moved to different parts of the country, millions stayed in the northeast to work in factories, which resulted in urban growth.

Cities Grow and Connect

Improved transportation, growing industries, and immigration helped cities grow.

Big cities such as NYC, Boston, and Philadelphia grew and so did suburbs, creating metropolitan areas.

In time, these areas began to grow closer together to form a megalopolis.

Traveling Between Cities Today

How is travel easier today than it was back in the 1800’s; what new ways do we have?

Highways

Airlines

Passenger Trains

Growth of the Northeast

Transportation and power helped cities in the northeast grow.

The Industrial Revolution helped the northeast grow.

Immigrants also contributed to urban growth.