-
Farmalnd was easy to acquire
A new land law in 1820 reduced the minimum price of government land from $1.64 to $1.25 per acre and the minimum plot size from 160 to 80 acres. Westerners continued to push for greater relaxation of land laws, and under the Preemption Act of 1830, squatters were allowed to stake out claims ahead of the governmental land surveys and later get 160 acres at the minimum price of $1.25 per acre. -
Baltimore and Ohio Railroad
In 1826, a group of businessmen launched the first American railway, named the Baltimore and Ohio (B&O). After the success of the B&O in Maryland, many other companies began building railroads. -
1828 the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad laid 13 miles of track
In 1828 the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad laid 13 miles of track. In 1831 there were only 73 miles of track in the whole United States. -
T-Shaped Rail
Robert Livingston Stevens solved this problem by designing an iron T-shaped rail. After this invention, railroads grew from three thousand miles to thirty thousand miles in only 20 years. Shipping costs greatly decreased and industry expanded. This also contributed to the Market Revolution. -
1840, railroad mileage equaled that of canals
By 1840, railroad mileage equaled that of canals but the railroad was faster, more flexible, and more reliable, and soon surpassed canals as America’s favorite form of transportation, able to move four times as much freight as a canal barge for the same cost. -
Asa Whitney Presents
The New York entrepreneur Asa Whitney presented a resolution in Congress proposing the federal funding of a railroad that would stretch to the Pacific. -
By 1860, there were more than 30,000 miles of railroad track
By 1860, there were more than 30,000 miles of railroad track, creating a spider web of connections linking New England and New York to the Old Northwest and lines linking Boston, Albany, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Wheeling, St. Louis, and Pittsburgh. -
Western migration
In 1860, more than 1/2 of population is west of the Appalachian Mountains
