the transportation revolution

THE

TRANSPORTATION

REVOLUTION

Early Travel

Travel was very difficult in the 1600s-1700s because of the dense forests and mountains, as well as the lack of roads.

Roads were first built and paid for only by towns, which meant that they were short in length and few in numbers (1600- early 1700s).

Whatever roads existed were usually “bad”: uneven, rocky, and muddy when wet.

Early Roads

Better Roads

Macadam's Road: raised, “cambered” roads that allowed water to drain. Built using tar mixed with road stone.

Water

Front view

rainwater run off

Turnpike (toll road): A road that requires a fee for its use; this is how the turnpikes pays for its construction.

This allowed for the construction of more roads, which were also longer in length and better in quality.

Turnpikes

Cumberland Road

Cumberland Road (National Road): paid for by the federal government, it was the first major road to be built using the “macadamized” method.

Built between 1811-1839, it was about 620 miles long, connecting the East and West.

Canal: a “man-made” waterway that makes trade/travel possible where a river did not actually exist. Consisted of a small flatboat that’s usually

pulled by a horse or mule.

CANAL

The Erie Canal

40ft.

7ft.360 miles long!

• Largest canal in the world at the time (360 miles).

• Built between 1816-1825.

• Connected the East with the West.

The Erie Canal went from Albany to Buffalo, NY.

Made New York city the most important trade city in America.

River

Erie Canal

River

Erie Canal had at one time over 83 locks!

Canal Era 1825-1850

STEAM ENGINE

1769 Scottish engineer James Watt creates the first practical steam engine, which makes possible the future creation of the steamboat and locomotive (train).

STEAMBOAT

Robert Fulton made first successful commercial steamboat called North River or Clermont (1807).

Early steamboats could only travel on rivers---not strong enough for the ocean currents.

By 1820s, steamboats were popular in the West and South, which used them to carry goods (mostly cotton and sugar) on rivers.

LOCOMOTIVES

John Stevens is considered to be the “Father of American Railroad,” built the first railway in 1825.

Construction of railroad tracks increased over the years as it became obvious that locomotives were the fastest and most reliable way to travel.

  1830 1840 1850 1860 1870

Canals 1277 3326 3698 0 0

Railroad     73 3328 8879 30,636 50,000

TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD

By the early 1860s there was a push by the U.S. government to build a transcontinental railway that would connect East and West.

TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD

Pacific Railroad Bill: Congress gives Central Pacific and Union Pacific 20 square miles for each mile of track they laid (combined total of 34,000 square miles) PLUS $48,000 per mile of tracks.

TRANSCONTINENTAL RAILROAD

Central Pacific used mostly Chinese workers (80%) while Union Pacific used mostly Irish workers.

Both lines met at Promontory, Utah on May 10, 1869. The transcontinental railroad was over 1,700 miles, and now it connected East to West.

STANDARD TIME

Railroad companies needed a “standard time” so that people knew exactly when the trains were departing and arriving.

Standard Time: divided the U.S. into four “time zones.” The time was now exactly the same for everyone in a particular time zone.

Effects of the Transportation Revolution

1. Helped people settle the West: allowed for easier travel to the West (people and supplies).

Effects of the Transportation Revolution

2. Connected the country: East and West no longer separated.

Effects of the Transportation Revolution

3. Encouraged growth of towns and cities: wherever there were canals, train stations, or harbors, people came and settled.

Effects of the Transportation Revolution

4. Increased trade: it made it easier and cheaper to move goods. This creates a “consumer culture.”