Americans Move Westward

Traveling West• By 1820, so many people had

moved west that the population in some of the original 13 states had actually declined.

• Before long, some western territories had populations large enough to apply for statehood. Between 1792 and 1819, eight states joined the Union: Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, and Alabama.

Improvements to Roads• As more and more people

moved west, new and better roads were built to accommodate them.

• Companies began to improve roads by using stone and gravel. To pay for these improvements, travelers had to pay a fee. The Lancaster Turnpike is an example.

• The National Road was paid for by Congress. It ran from Maryland to Illinois.

Improved Travel• An even greater innovation

was the invention of the steam engine. This made traveling up and down river the best and cheapest way to travel. Before the steam engine, you basically had to pull your boat back up river with ropes.

• Robert Fulton - credited with the first steamboat.

• Steamboats did have their drawbacks, though. They were prone to fire and explosion.

The Canal Boom• Farmers in the west still needed a way

to get their goods directly to the east. • A somewhat far-fetched solution was

proposed. We could, in theory, dig a 350 mile canal linking the Great Lakes with the Mohawk and Hudson rivers.

• The Erie Canal as it came to be called would let western farmers ship their goods to the port of New York.

• People thought that it could not be done, but in only 8 years, the Erie Canal was opened. The cost of shipping goods dropped to about 1/10 of what it was before the canal was built.

Review

• What were some of the problems with the early roads?

• In what ways were the early roads improved?

• What were the advantages of using steamboats? Disadvantages?

Quickwrite

• I would have chosen to travel using the (steamboat on the Erie Canal/National Road) because…