ABSTRACT
The significance of the Transportation Revolution and Internal Improvements – ‘Trails’ and rural roads – Turnpikes: the Cumberland Road (1806–38) – ‘Plank’ roads – The Erie Canal (1817–25) and the Canal Mania – River steamboats; the Steamboat Act (1852) – The coming of the railroads: state and city competition; the transcontinental plan – Railroad financing before 1860 – The triumph of rail transportation.
