Began before the war for independence transformed the economy into a global powerhouse

• 18th century- most Americans = were farm folk, within a “household economy” = produced a little more than enough to survive and use for themselves (rest for bartering with neighbors)

• 19th century- more farm families partook in commercial, instead of subsistence agriculture- producing surplus crops and livestock to sell for cash in regional and international markets

  • Change from production for consumption -> production for profit

  • With $$$ earned, farm families could buy more land, better equipment, and manufactured household goods

Market economy

• The first stage = boom-and-bust cycles- commercial agriculture built upon the backs of enslaved, immigrants, and displaced Mexicans

• Over time, the standard of living rose, and more opportunities for economic gain and geographic mobility

• The market economy needed internal improvements-deeper harbors, lighthouse es, a national network of canals, bridges, roads, and railroads to improve the flow of goods across states and oceans

• How to fund the infrastructure improvements?

  • The federal government, individual states, or private corporations?

  • The constitution stated other about the federal government s role in funding transport improvements, some argued it is the responsibility of state and local governments

  • Others believed the constitution gave the federal government power to promote “general welfare” which included transportation and communication

Transportation Improvements

• Overland Transportation

  • Before the 19th century- travel was slow, uncomfortable, and expensive (horse-drawn carriage -> long travel times = farm products only sold locally, before they spoiled)

  • 19th century- an array of transportation innovations- Conestogas (larger horse-drawn wagons), new roads, canals, steamboats, first railroads = expanding national market for goods and services

  • Coach lines began using continual relays (stages) of fresh horses available every ~40 miles (stagecoaches made travel faster, less expensive, and more accessible- became faster as roads improved)

  • New Roads- as settlers moved west, people demanded better roads

    • 1803- Ohio became a state; creation of the Cumberland Road first interstate roadway financed by the federal government (from sales of federally-owned land, from Atlantic Coast westward)- from MD to WV to Ohio River, to Illinois in 1838

    • National Road quickened the settlement of the West and the emergence of a truly national market economy by reducing transport costs, creating new markets, and stimulating the growth of towns

    • Farmers took more produce and livestock to sell in distant markets

    • NE- movement for paved roads after Philadelphia Lancaster Turnpike opened in 1794 (admit traffic in exchange for fees)

    • 1821- more turnpikes, stagecoach & freight companies = move more people at lower rates

• Water Transportation-

  • 1820s- Turnpike boom => advances in water transportation

  • Steamboats, flatboats, and canal boats carried people and goods cheaper than horse-drawn wagons did

    • Flats (barges propelled by men using long poles brought goods and people down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers

• Problem- Only went in one direction, downstream; when unloaded in New Orleans or Natchez, MI they were sold and dismantled to provide lumber for construction

• Getting back upriver was solved when Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston sent the Clermont (the first commercial steamboat) up the Hudson River from NYC- took a quarter of the time of a sailing vessel

• Use of wood-fired steamboats spread, opening ½ of the continent to water traffic along major rivers

  • Two-way travel to MI River Valley- transcontinental market and commercial agricultural empire that produced much of the nation’s cotton, timber, wheat, corn, cattle, and hogs

  • Increased use of steamboats = decreased pieces for shipping goods = increased profits and stimulating demand

• The use of steamboats transformed St.Louis, MS into the booming riverport

• New Orleans grew even faster- its population grew 10x since acquired from France, perhaps the wealthiest American city bc thriving trade with Caribbean islands and new Latin American republicans that overthrew Spanish rule, a cotton production explosion

• Use of wood-burning steamboats was risky- accidents, explosions, and fires were common, poor sanitation (passengers traveled with cattle and pigs), no toilets until the 1850s, shared washbasins and towels-

• Speeded up the market revolution- the Erie Canal in NY connected the Great Lakes and Midwest to the Hudson River and NYC

  • DeWitt Clinton (governor of NY) took lead, and succeeded despite doubts- the “river of gold” flowed along the Erie Canal after opening in 1825

  • Drove MW trade (furs, lumber, textiles) eastward, rather than to Canada or a long journey to New Orleans and the Gulf of Mexico,

  • Longest canal in the world- was built by thousands of laborers (mostly German and Irish immigrants underpaid to drain swamps, clear forests, build stone bridges & aqueducts, and blast through solid rock)

  • Canal brought lumber, grain, and flour and unlocked floodgates of western settlement, quicker transport of goods, reduced cost of moving a ton of freight- extremely profitable

• Economic and Political consequences because it tied together the economies of the Midwest and East while isolating the Deep South

  • Growth in NY cities and towns increased enormously

    • Genesee Valley in western NY became one of the most productive grain-growing regions

    • Rochester became a boom town (processed wheat and corn into flour and meal

  • Canal boats were pulled by teams of horses or mules, and the packet boats carrying passengers traveled seven days a week, 2-4mph (time spent waiting at one of 88 locks, to unload a boat to match changing water level)

  • Captains mainly had families, boatmen were single, seemed rough

  • Canals enabled speedier and less expensive transport of goods and people.  Boosted real estate prices for lands bordering them and transformed villages into booming cities (shortlived because of the emergence of the railroad)

• Railroads- more versatile

  • When the Erie Canal was completed, the world’s first steam-powered railway began operating in England, the craze spread to the US

  • Surpassed other forms of transport because trains could move people and freight faster, farther, and cheaper than wagons or boats

  • An advantage over canals- 10mph, could travel in winter (canals could not operate when frozen)

  • Encouraging western settlement and expansion of commercial agriculture,the  emergence of new villages and depot/rail station became central in every town (a public place where people of all statuses converged)

  • Building railroads stimulated the national economy- improving transportation, creating demand for iron, wooden, crossties, bridges, locomotives, freight cars, etc- became the nation’s largest corporations and employers

  • A changed cluster of mostly local markets to an interconnected national marketplace for goods and services (expanded the geography of capitalism, larger industrial and commercial enterprises)

  • Among the first “big” businesses, huge corporations w/ influence

  • Negative effects- quick and shady profits -> political corruption (bribed legislators to pass legislation favorable to their corporations); facilitated access to trans-Appalachian West-> decline of Native American culture; increased tempo, mobility, and noise of everyday life (the whistle)

• Ocean Transportation

  • 1845- launch of the first clipper ship (the Rainbow)

  • Twice as fast as older merchant ships. Built for speed and thirst for Chinese tea, tea leaves needed to reach markets quickly after harvest (led to clipper boom)

  • Importance increased after the discovery of gold in California (1848)- thousands of prospectors and entrepreneurs from the Atlantic seaboard (Boston/Ny to San Francisco, needed to go around South America’s s dangerous Cape horn)- faster travel (123 days)

  • A massive wave of would-be miners = generated demand for hoods on the West Coast (which could be met with clippers)

  • Cons- lacked space for cargo or passengers

• Communications

  • Innovations in transportation -> Closer nation

  • Less time for information and news to spread

  • Increased number of newspapers as the creation of towns and rapid growth of cities (America had more newspaper readers than any other nation)

  • Improved mail deliveries (number of post offices soared)

  • New Steam-powered printing presses reduced the costs of newspapers (became the  “penny press” for 1 cent newspapers)- sparse in new western states and territories

  • Henry Wells and William Fargo formed an express delivery service called the Wells Fargo & Company in 1852- stagecoaches delivered passengers, mail,m, and strongboxes (of gold) across CA, eventually coast to coast

    • Joined other express companies to form Overland Mail Company (regular 2x per week mail service), b/f 2x/month

  • People still wanted faster delivery

    • 1860- Pony Express Company delivered mail between Missouri and Sacramento, CA (at that time, CA had a large amount of population, and needed faster connections to the rest of the nation

      • Acquired more horses and more relay stations

      • Delivered Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural address

    • Dangerous journey- climate, environment, Indian attacks on stations- their horses could outrun Indian horses

    • Eventually out of business by the development of a national electromagnetic telegraph system

  • National electromagnetic telegraph system- Samuel B. Morse developed the telegraph, and by the 1840s- most major cities benefited from telegraph lines strung on poles- faster communication, easier across long distances

    • Triggered many changes- helped railroad operators schedule trains more precisely, thus avoiding collisions

The Role of the Government

• Steamboats, canals, railroads

  • connected western areas of the country with the East

  • Boosted trade

  • Helped open Far West for settlement

  • Spurred growth in cities (nation became the engine of capitalist expansion, urban energy, and global reach)

• Transportation improvements were financed by both state governments and private investors- the national government bought stock in turnpike and canal companies, awarded land grants to several western states to support canal and railroad projects, and sent federal cavalry troops to “pacify” Indians along railroad routes

  • 1850 congressional land grant- In 1850, Stephen A> Douglas convinced Congress to provide a major land grant to support a north-south rail line connecting Chicago and Alabama

    • Precedent for other bounties