The National Road, which was funded in 1808, linked Maryland to Illinois.

This tie from the East to the

West made intrastate travel faster and easier. As much as the road helped to ease the burden of travel
and transportation, other inventions such as the steamboat and railroad would revolutionize
transportation even further.

Commercial shipments of items such as grain and produce that were time sensitive or bulky were not
practical for transportation over the roads. While road improvements did help, it was still relatively
faster, safer, and cheaper to transport by water. With water transportation not possible to land-locked
locations alternatives were found in canals, by bringing the water to the region. While the Erie Canal,
which connected New York to the Great Lakes, was the most famous canal nearly $200 million was
invested in canal building between 1820 and 1840. Helping to increase the financial benefit of canals
were the steamboats. After their first demonstration in 1807 by Robert Fulton, steamboats were quickly
put to work. Steamboats could move great quantities of commodities both up and down the inland
rivers and canals.

Just as the steamboats revolutionized goods transport by inland waterways, railroads did the same by
land. Beginning in 1830 with a 13 mile track between Baltimore and Ohio, railroads commanded 31,000
miles of track a mere 30 years later. Railroads quickly became ideal for comfortable personnel transport
as well as for general goods and livestock. Although it was costly and labor intensive to install track, the
ability to travel nearly 30 miles an hour made the projects financially feasible.

With fast and easy transportation options available, western growth increased greatly. It was now
relatively easy to transport goods to distant markets. Commercial farms became more frequent in the
North West with the ability to transport food and produce in a timely manner. With commercial farms
on the rise, smaller independent farmers saw a decrease in profits. This forced many to either move
west and begin commercial production themselves, or to look for other lines of work. The easy transport
of goods by land and water also had huge impacts on cities. While New Orleans saw a decrease by about
70% of produce shipments, nearly every other city was positively affected. St. Louis, Chicago, Cincinnati,
and Buffalo to name a few, saw huge population increases due to the revolution. The transportation
revolution is responsible for much of the western migration.

References:
Faragher, J., Buhle, M., Czitrom, D., & Armitage, S. (2009). Out of many: A History of the
American People (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.