Explain how transportation innovations of the time period affected migration patterns in the United States? Include how the innovation changed how people were able to move and changed where people could go.
For each transportation invocation students should
Identify the innovation
explain how the innovation changed how people were able to move
explain how the innovations changed where people were able to go
(Be sure to be accurate and select innovations of the time period. For example, you will not be discussing automobiles or airplanes)
Transportation innovations in the 19th century, such as canals, steamboats, and railroads, greatly impacted migration patterns in the United States. Canals made it easier for settlers to reach previously isolated areas, while steamboats allowed for faster and more reliable river travel. The most significant innovation, railroads, enabled settlers to travel long distances in shorter periods of time, connecting previously isolated regions and promoting westward migration. Overall, these innovations made it easier for people to move and expanded the areas where they could go.
During the 19th century, several transportation innovations greatly influenced migration patterns in the United States. These innovations included canals, steamboats, and railroads.
1. Canals:
- Canals, such as the Erie Canal, were a major transportation innovation during this time period.
- They allowed people to move more easily and swiftly across long distances by connecting rivers, lakes, and oceans.
- Canals opened up new routes and made it possible for settlers to reach previously isolated regions, such as the western parts of New York and Ohio.
- This improved accessibility encouraged a wave of migration towards these areas, leading to the growth of cities like Buffalo and Cleveland.
2. Steamboats:
- The invention of the steamboat by Robert Fulton in the early 1800s revolutionized water transportation.
- Steamboats were powered by steam engines, providing a reliable means of travel against river currents.
- This innovation made it easier for people to navigate rivers and travel upstream, as they were no longer entirely dependent on wind or human-powered boats.
- Steamboats increased the speed and reliability of river transportation, allowing people to move more quickly and efficiently.
- As a result, settlers were able to migrate farther into the interior of the United States along rivers like the Mississippi, Ohio, and Missouri.
3. Railroads:
- Perhaps the most significant transportation innovation of the time period was the expansion of railroads.
- The development of railroads allowed for faster and more efficient land transportation.
- This innovation transformed migration patterns, as it gave settlers the ability to travel great distances across the country in relatively short periods of time.
- Railroads also connected previously isolated regions, such as the Midwest and the West, to larger population centers on the East Coast.
- The construction of railroads, for instance the transcontinental railroad, significantly influenced westward migration, as settlers could move to and settle in areas previously considered remote and inaccessible.
Overall, these transportation innovations of the time period drastically changed how people were able to move, offering faster and more accessible modes of transportation. Additionally, they expanded the areas where people were able to go, opening up previously isolated regions for settlement.
shorter summary
I have paid no poll tax in six years. I was put in jail once on this account, for one night.
-Henry David Thoreau, Civil Disobedience, 1849
Use the except to answer the following question.
How did Thoreau justify this act of civil disobedience?
A.he disagree with increasing taxes for the lower classes
B.He disproved of the increasing taxes to fund mainly urban areas
C.he objected a tax money being used to pay for the U.S- Mexican War.
D.he refused to provide tax money to a government that supported the civil war