Modes of Transportation in the Early Republic
The first turnpike, built by private stock companies and financed by private investments and toll revenues, opened in 1794 between Lancaster and Philadelphia. Its success stimulated similar projects in New England and the Atlantic states by 1815, and it also influenced the beginning of the National Road in 1811, which reached Wheeling by 1818. "Turnpike fever" raged in the Old Northwest during the 1820s and 1830s, but few roads were completed, except in Ohio. Turnpikes were relatively short-lived because of assorted economic factors: for long hauls, their value was limited because of high tolls and long travel times; the pikes also did not yield good returns for their investors -- in New England, only 6 of 230 pikes barely returned money, while those in Massachusetts earned dividends of only 3.1% in 60 years. Failure of turnpikes could be blamed on the competition of canals and railroads; however, high costs, poor management, and high maintenance costs primarily contributed to their downfall. (Transportation Revolution, 17-28)
This innovative road was not common in the United States during the early decades of the 19th century. Plank roads were introduced in Canada in the mid 1830s and in New York by the mid 1840s; however, the "boom" period did not arrive until the 1850s.
The canal "boom" began in the 1810s as a means of connecting existing waterways. By 1816, there were 100 miles of canals in the United States; only three canals were longer than two miles, thereby indicating the prevalence of short, local connecting spurs. Major canals of the time included:
• Erie Canal (1817-1825) constructed by the State of New York; served as a model for other state projects. 364 miles long.
• Ohio-Erie Canal completed in 1833 at a cost of $8 million, running 308 miles from Cleveland to Portsmouth on the Ohio River.
• Miami-Erie Canal built in the western part of Ohio, from Cincinnati to Dayton in 1832, and to Toledo in 1845.
Canals were funded by investments, stocks, state bonds, and direct financing by some state governments; the federal government even provided some assistance in later years by allowing proceeds from the sale of public lands to be used for canal projects. State bonds, however, were most important to the success of the projects: value of bonds issued between 1820-1837, $108 million. By 1840, over 3,300 miles of canals were present in the United States, all but 100 miles of which were built after 1816 and most after 1824. Between 1816 and 1840, over $125 million was spent on canals, causing near bankruptcy for three states.
Flatboats were commonly used until the 1830s when steamboats began to dominate river trade and travel on the Great Lakes. The advantages to this form of transportation were speed and economy, plus connections of internal waterways with major ports. (Transportation Revolution, p.56-73)
The initial development of this system occurred in the eastern United States during 1820s and 1830s. The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad was chartered in 1828 and had thirteen miles of track operation by May, 1830. Charleston, South Carolina, built the second railroad in the nation by 1833, which totalled some 136 miles. To the north, three short lines operated out of Boston by the early 1830s. During the same decade, roughly three miles of rails were built for every two miles of canal, resulting in the relative parity of both rail and canal systems by 1840. In 1850, the number of miles of rails exceeded total canal miles by nearly two times. (Transportation Revolution,p.74-103)
Changing Costs of Transportation
In 1816, the Senate reported that one ton of goods from Europe, traveling 3,000 miles, could be shipped for $9; the same shipment could be carried only 30 miles overland in the United States for the same price. Between 1810 and 1819, the average cost of .30 per ton-mile prohibited the long distance movement of goods. More specifically, in 1817, New York found the cost of transportation from Buffalo to New York City was three times the market value of wheat, six times o