A Transportation Transformation

In the northeastern United States, from Independence (1776) until the Civil War (1861-1865), state and local governments, rather than the federal (national) government, were the sources of most initiatives to improve transportation, although private entrepreneurs were the principal builders of toll roads in the early nineteenth century. All toll roads required payment for use, but few toll roads were profitable, and improvements in water transportation made greater contributions to commerce and economy. The use of steamships on rivers from the second and third decades of the nineteenth century reduced the cost and increased the speed of transporting goods up such major rivers as the Hudson, Ohio Mississippi, and Missouri and contributed to the growth of cities such as Albany, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Pittsburgh. Since there were over twenty thousand miles of navigable rivers in the pre-Civil War United States, the fuller use of natural inland waterways was a major step in integrating the new nation.Steamships soon lowered transport rates on large lakes, along the sea coasts, and in international trade.

Failing to obtain federal aid, New York State, with help from British investors, financed the 363-mile Erie Canal. The canal opened in 1825 and linked Buffalo on Lake Erie with Troy and Albany on the Hudson River and thus with the Atlantic Ocean. The Erie Canal lowered transportation costs from Buffalo to New York City by 90 percent and established New York City as the premier United States port. The canal that linked the Ohio river with Lake Erie in 1833 was another example of connecting major waterways and large regions with each other. Nearly four thousand miles of canals were operating by the 1850s, with three-quarters of the financing coming from state and local governments, borrowed mostly from British investors.

The principal canal networks connected the Northeastern Seaboard with the Upper Midwest. The low cost of canal and steamboat shipping made it feasible to convey even bulky, low-priced goods long distances. This put northeastern and Mid-Atlantic grain farmers at a competitive disadvantage in respect to grain from the rich soils of the Ohio River valley and beyond. The beleaguered farmers had to switch to dairying or vegetable and fruit crops to remain viable, but instead they often left farming or migrated west New England farmers were most likely to migrate, and recurrent sightings of stone walls in deep New England forests are modern-day reminders of those abandoned farms.

The canals were successful, but then came the railroads. The first railroad in the United States-the Baltimore and Ohio-opened in 1830 with a locomotive imported from Great Britain. Thirty years later, the United States boasted over thirty thousand miles of tracks with a total expenditure five times greater than that invested in canal construction. Like the canals, most railroad lines were located in the northern regions of the nation and facilitated east-west transport, and Chicago, with four thousand miles of track converging there by 1860, became one of the major transportation hubs. Rail competition led to the closure of many transportation canals and the cancellation of new canal projects.

Railroads were more flexible than canals because they could move goods and people over a variety of terrains with fewer problems posed by mountains, water levels, freezing weather, and trans shipments. They reduced overland travel time by about thirty times, and it was the greater speed that made rail travel attractive to people. But railroad freight (shipped goods) revenue exceeded passenger revenue by the end of the 1850s, also the point when the volume of freight sent by rail surpassed that of canals. River transport continued to be widely used

The telegraph was a spectacular change in communication. It complemented the expansion of the railroads by enabling railroads to coordinate and monitor schedules. The railroad companies often allowed a telegraph company to string lines along railroads’ rights of way in exchange for discounted service fees.

There were over fifty telegraph companies in the early 1850s when a group of Rochester, New York. businessmen began consolidating small companies into what became Western Union (a famous telegraph company). This consolidation led to better efficiencies and improved service, facilitating the increased use of telegraph service for money orders, business news, newspaper reporting, personal messages, and conduct of war. Western Union completed the first coast-to-coast line across the nation in 1861, leading the United States Post Office to cancel the Pony Express (mail delivery by riders on horseback) when the Civil War began.

Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

AThe use of steamships in the nineteenth century allowed goods to be shipped cheaply and quickly from their production sites in such cities as Albany, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Louisville, and Pittsburgh.

BDuring the early nineteenth century, cities along major rivers were able to grow because they produced steamships that could transport their goods cheaply and quickly

CThe use of steamships to transport goods mostly benefited cities along major rivers that could access these shipments cheaply and easily.

DBeginning in the second and third decades of the nineteenth century, steamships made it cheaper and faster to transport goods on major rivers and helped cities grow.

The word “integrating” in the passage is closest in meaning to

Abringing together

BExpanding

Csupplying

Dimproving

According to paragraph 1, which of the following was true of toll roads in the early nineteenth-century United States?

AThey were most often paid for by state and local governments.

BThey were built because of a government initiative to improve transportation.

CThey were not the most cost-effective way to ship goods.

DThey were more convenient than water transportation for commercial shipping.

According to paragraph 2, all of the following statements are true about the Erie Canal EXCEPT:

AIt was paid for by New York State and British investors.

BIt helped New York City become the most important port in the United States.

CIt opened in 1825 but only became profitable in 1833. when the Ohio River was linked to Lake Erie

DIt reduced the cost of shipping goods between cities in New York State.

Why does the author discuss “recurrent sightings of stone walls in deep New England forests”?

ATo indicate one of the reasons that farmers in New England were more likely to migrate than farmers in other regions were

BTo provide evidence that canals made it difficult for New England farmers to compete with farmers farther west

CTo suggest that switching to dairy or vegetable and fruit farming usually did not allow farmers to remain in New England

DTo demonstrate that farmers in New England began cultivating forested areas in response to competition from farmers in the Ohio River valley and beyond

Which of the following can be inferred from paragraph 3 about northeastern and Mid-Atlantic farms?

AThey had soil that was inferior to the soil of Midwest farms.

BThey produced agricultural goods that were shipped throughout the Upper Midwest.

CThey were the largest source of dairy products in the United States throughout the nineteenth century.

DThey produced different types of grain than those produced by farms in the Midwest.

According to paragraph 4, which of the following statements is true about canals after 1860?

ACanals were no longer used for transportation of goods.

BThe planning and building of new canals mostly stopped.

CCanals were mostly used outside of northern regions where there were no railroads.

DThe money being invested in canals was about half of that being invested in railroads.

According to paragraphs 6 and 7, which of the following factors played the largest role in improving telegraph service?

AThe creation of special telegraph lines for use by railroads

BThe ability to offer discounted service fees

CThe formation of one large telegraph company from various smaller companies

DThe elimination of the Pony Express for mail delivery

Look at the four squaresthat indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage

Although it is perhaps the best known, New York’s Erie Canal was not the only important canal in the nineteenth-century United States.

Where would the sentence best fit？Click on a square sentence to the passage.

New forms of transportation led to more efficient travel and faster shipment of goods in the nineteenth-century United States.

ACanals and railroads were originally built to conduct trade but played a significant role during the American Civil War.

BBy the middle of the nineteenth century, canals were being replaced by rail systems, which offered faster travel and greater flexibility in various settings and conditions

CTelegraph companies such as Western Union improved communication across widely separated areas of the United States and helped railroads establish consistent schedules.

DStarting in the 1820s. a network of canals was built that connected inland and coastal areas and brought grain from the Midwest to other parts of the country.

EThe speed of railroads made it possible to easily transport goods that might spoil, such as dairy and fruit, throughout the Midwest and interior United States.

FThe expansion of the railroad throughout the United States allowed the government to form the United States Post Office, a nationwide mail service, for the first time

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