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The beginning
Robert Fulton had created a steam engine for use in a boat called the Clermont. This kind of power allowed the boat to travel up the Hudson River as easily as it could travel down. The boat was nicknamed 'Fulton's Folly,' doubting it could be commercially successful. -
Railroads
n 1827, the city of Baltimore did not have a canal, despite being the third largest city in the U.S. A group of merchants and bankers began investigating their options for competing with the Erie Canal and hit upon a completely different idea for transporting people and goods. -
Railroads
With much fanfare, the last surviving signer of the Declaration of Independence, Charles Carroll, was on hand to break ground on the 4th of July, 1828. In 1830, the B&O built Tom Thumb, the first American steam locomotive, proving that steam engines were better than horse-drawn railway cars. -
Rising up of steamboats
By 1830, more than 200 steamboats ran up and down the rivers, putting cities like Cincinnati and St. Louis on the map. It seemed now the only limit was in the location of the waterways. But soon, even that obstacle was overcomed. -
Benefits of steamboats.
By 1840, more than 3,000 miles of canals connected most major waterways in the nation. Canals were the most important for the shipping goods in the inside of the nation.
