Transportation and the Industrial Revolution

• Focus Questions:

1. How did new inventions and changes in transportation methods affect westward expansion?

2. What were the advantages and disadvantages of these methods of transportation?

1. Transportation Improvements and Westward Expansion

• Improvements in roads result in an increase in westward movement

• The introduction of steam power to river travel results in quicker upstream travel for passengers and gives farmers a cheaper way to transport goods from rural areas to urban markets

• The canal systems drop the price of shipping even further and connects western farms with eastern cities

• As transportation becomes cheaper and more reliable, populations in western territories increase and new states are created

Corduroy Road

Lancaster Turnpike

The National Road

Flatboats

“Clermont”- Robert Fulton

Flat-bottomed steamboat

2. Comparing Three Transportation Methods

• Roads- More roads than canals and rivers, more access to remote areas. Poor quality, uncomfortable for travelers, expensive tolls, blocked by rivers.

• Rivers- Swift downstream, flatboat travel and swift upstream steamboat travel. Cheaper and more comfortable than roads. Slow upstream flatboat travel, dangerous steamboat travel.

• Canals- Access for farmers to port of New York, linked western and eastern cities, spurred on economic activity in U.S., difficult engineering problems to solve- expensive to build.

The Erie Canal

Connecting New York with the West

Profile of the Erie Canal