A revolution in the form of transportation transformed America forever. Between the 1800’s and 1840’s hundreds of roads and canal were built, most famous were the National Road and the Erie Canal. This transportation revolution also helped ignite the market revolution. With easier transportation, came explosive economic growth and opportunities in production and manufacturing. Out in the frontier, better known as the west, the economy started to play an important role in the United States’ economics.
With fertile land and soil, the west was booming with cotton sales and growth; however, only with major help from Eli Whitney’s cotton gin.
The cotton gin was at the time, a revolutionary invention that produced, instead of five pounds in one day, one hundred pounds in one day. This meant that the cotton industry could flourish through textiles and factories in New England. Through various canals and roads, the transportation of these items was quick, so the factories could manufacture them quicker.
These items could then be sold to Americans and help America’s economy.
The north and west were connected mainly, for the south’s land was all used up and the roads and canals were not as plentiful as in the north and west. However, the south did have products like rice, tobacco, and indigo that could be sent to the north for manufacturing and distribution through the United States. The three regions all had a specialized task that was part of the national economy.
If one failed to fulfill their role, the whole economy might collapse. Advanced transportation systems in the forms of roads and canals, created a commercially linked economy. The north, south, and west all depended on each other to do certain things and transportation aided them with this. Job growth, industry growth, and a specialized division of labor were all outcomes from the revolutionary transportation systems.