Transcript File

The Development of Transportation
Infrastructure in 19th Century America
1
Post War of 1812

CONSIDER: Why did the American
manufacturing industry grow significantly
in the post War of 1812 years?

Hint: Think of who we were fighting, and therefore no
longer able to trade with?
2
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Population Growth:
3
Public vs. Private: The Internal Improvements
Debate
President James
 In 1800, the United States was geographically
large but with a small population.







Henry Clay
Roads
Canals
Railroads
Transportation
Henry Clay proposed a 3 part American System




Other than population centers, much of the
infant United States was largely uninhabited.
The vast expanses of wilderness made
transportation difficult in a time before railroads.
After the War of 1812, South Carolina John C.
Calhoun proposed a program where the federal
government would pay for an expansion of
infrastructure.

Madison
Protective Tariffs
A renewed national bank
Internal improvements
President Madison shot both down, saying the
national government was not responsible for
funding projects in individual states.
4
Roads


Pennsylvania’s Lancaster Turnpike, was
built in the 1790’s. It connected
Philadelphia with the rich farmlands
around Lancaster. Its success pushed for
the construction of other private roads that
by the mid 1820’s connected most of the
country’s major cities.
There was a growing need for interstate
roads, but states’ rights promoters blocked
the use of federal funds for such roads.
5
Robert Fulton and the Steamboat

On 7 August 1807, Robert Fulton
launched the steamboat Claremont
on the Hudson River for a trip
between New York City and Albany.




The Claremont completed the 150
mile trip in just over 32 hours, an
astonishing speed against the
current for the time.
Although the Claremont was not the
first steamboat, it was the first
steamboat that was economically
viable.
By 1811, Fulton’s had taken the
steamboat to the Mississippi River
and, in 1819, the Savannah crossed
the Atlantic Ocean on a combination
of steam and sail.
The introduction of steam power
meant that transportation was no
longer reliant on animals, wind, and
currents.
"What sir, would you make a ship
sail against the winds and current
by lighting a bonfire under her
deck? I pray you excuse me. I have
no time to listen to such nonsense."
Napoleon I to Robert Fulton
The Claremont
6
The Erie Canal




The Erie Canal circa 1829
In its first year of operation 185,000 tons of
merchandise was moved on the Erie Canal. This
included 562,000 bushels of wheat, 221,000 barrels of
flour, and 435,000 gallons of whiskey.

Before the invention of the railroad, the
only practical means of moving heavy
objects around the country was by
water.
This proved an impediment to
commerce as the two major American
ports, Baltimore and New York, were
not served by rivers.
 This meant that goods had to be
offloaded from barges and carried
overland to the port for shipping.
In 1817, months after Madison vetoed
the internal improvements bill, New
York began construction of a canal to
link New York Harbor with the Hudson
River and the Great Lakes beyond.
When the canal was completed in
1825, the cost of transporting one ton
of wheat across New York fell from
$100 to $5. A journey that had taken
20 days could now be competed in 10.
Though improved, the Erie Canal
remains in operation
7
The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad

In 1827, the Baltimore and Ohio
became the first railroad in the U.S.
chartered to carry passengers and
freight.



The railroad had not yet been
invented when the Erie Canal was
built.
Designed to link Baltimore Harbor
with the Ohio River, the B&O
eventually covered the Eastern
seaboard and reached as far west as
Chicago and continued operation
until 1986.
In 1830, there were 23 miles of
railroad in the United States. By 1840
it had increased to 2,808 miles of
track. By 1860, 30,626 miles of track
had been laid in the United States.
The Tom Thumb, the first
locomotive on the B&O Railroad.
8
Industrial Progress

The Cotton Gin

Eli Whitney
 Interchangeable
Parts (Rifles)
In response to the
factory movement
 Reduce work hours
 Increase pay




Stocks/Investments
Factory System

Immigrant workers?
 State laws outlawing
unions
 High unemployment

Water Power
Immigrants
 Women
 Children
Unions


Farming becomes
big business.
9
Cotton Gin
10
Cotton Gin and Society



1793: Transformed
the agriculture of
the entire South.
Created cotton as
a cash crop.
Allowed for quickly
removing the
seeds from the
cotton.



Made cotton more
profitable than tobacco
and indigo.
This new income was
used to purchase
slaves and new land in
Alabama and
Mississippi.
Much of the cotton
was shipped to Great
Britain
11
Cotton Gin and Slavery

Early 1800’s: Many
people in society
‘hoped’ that slavery
would die out as an
institution.

Rather than
actually deal with
the issue (MAKE IT
ILLEGAL), people
just hoped it would
go away.


It may have actually
gone away without the
Cotton Gin.
This massive cash crop
made the institution of
slavery far too
profitable to get rid of.

The arguments over
the Missouri
Compromise backed
this up
12
Population of Enslaved
African-Americans
1800
1830
1860
New York
20,613
75
BIG FAT ZERO!
Maryland
106,635
102,994
87,189
Virginia
346,671
469,767
490,865
Georgia
59,699
217,531
462,198
Alabama
--
117,549
435,080
Mississippi
--
65,659
436,631
Arkansas
--
4,576
111,115
All States
893,605
2,009,043
3,953,760
13