Westward Expansion: Communication and Transportation

Westward Expansion

Inventions and Transportation

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Introduction

The Industrial Revolution completely changed the way people traveled and how goods were transported. Before the Industrial Revolution, transportation relied on animals (like horses pulling a cart) and boats. Travel was slow and difficult. It could take months to travel across the United States in the early 1800s.

The Steam Engine

In Britain in 1802, Richard Trevithick patented a "high pressure engine" and created the first steam-powered locomotive engine on rails.

George Stephenson and his son, Robert, built the first practical (able to be used and reproduced easily) steam locomotive.

In America in 1812, John Stevens saw the success of the steam engine in Britain and petitioned Congress to support a national railroad. He had also built the first American steam locomotive in 1825.

Transcontinental Railroad

Starting around 1830, railroads began to be constructed in the eastern part of the United States. Soon they stretched across the country with the First Transcontinental Railroad completed in 1869 in Promontory, Utah.

Railroads changed the culture of the United States and made the country seem much smaller. Before railroads, it could take months to travel across the United States. By the 1870s, a person could travel from New York to California in just a few days. Letters, goods, and packages could also be transported much faster.

Charlie Brown Explains the Transcontinental Railroad

One ethnic group that did most of the work was Chinese immigrants. Chinese immigrants moved to the United States hoping for a better life where they could find work. The railroad was that opportunity for work that many Americans weren’t willing to do at the time. Eventually, over 15,000 Chinese immigrants applied for the job. They worked long and hard hours through hot summers and freezing cold winters. Sadly, the work was extremely dangerous and workers were often treated poorly. Many didn’t survive the hazardous job. .

Chinese Immigrants

Steamboats and the River

One of the best ways to travel and ship goods before the Industrial Revolution was the river. Boats could travel downstream quite easily using the current. Traveling upstream was much more difficult, however. The problem of traveling upstream was solved during the Industrial Revolution by the steam engine. In 1807, Robert Fulton built the first commercial steamboat. It used steam power to travel upstream. Steamboats were soon used to transport people and goods along rivers throughout the country.

Did you know?

Boiler explosions were fairly common on steamboats. Famous author Mark Twain's brother, Henry Clemens, died after being injured in a boiler explosion.

Canals

In order to make better use of water transportation, canals were built to connect rivers, lakes, and oceans. The most important canal built in the United States was the Erie Canal. It was completed in 1825 and became a source of commerce and travel from the western states to New York.

The Erie Canal ran 363 miles and connected Lake Erie to the Hudson River and the Atlantic Ocean.

Communication

What Was The Pony Express?The Pony Express was a mail delivery service that ran between Missouri and California. Using the Pony Express, mail could arrive in California in as few as 9 days rather than the weeks it took to arrive when sent by horse carriage. It opened on April 3, 1860 and closed on October 24, 1861.Why Did It End? The Pony Express was forced to close after the opening of the transcontinental telegraph. Telegraphs could be sent much faster and with less expense. In the end, the business venture that was the Pony Express lost a lot of money and became outdated fairly quickly.

The route used by the Pony Express went from St. Joseph, Missouri to Sacramento, California. There were 184 stations along the 1,900 mile route.

Communication

Telegraph:The ability to communicate across long distances improved dramatically during the Industrial Revolution. It began with the invention of the electrical telegraph by Samuel Morse in 1844. This system allowed for messages to be transmitted much quicker and cheaper than old methods.

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