ABSTRACT
The eastern coast of the North American Continent,because of estuariesa nd indentations,provides innumerable favorable locations for harbors.It was on this shore that the economic life of the United States first developed,and it was in New England that the maritime history of the nation began.The Erie Canal and the railroads through the passes of th enorthern Appalachian smade the eastern sea board the great transit region of the American Continent.This was a victory of man-made communication over topography,for the natural tendency of the trade of the great central region was to move south with the current of the Mississippi and its tributaries,and to make New Orleans the great emporium of the central plain.Now the economic life of the North Central region as well as that of these aboard itself reaches the world trade routes through the harbors of Boston, NewYork,Philadelphia,and Baltimore.
