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Respecting the Individual
The government of the people reflected one of the most important shared values in the United States-the belief in indivdual equality, opportunity, and freedom. -
Farming the land
Much land was used to farm. When the nation's first census was taken, more than three-fourths of the nation's people lived on farms -
Travel over water
Transportation was faster on water than on land. -
Canals
The United States also began to build canals, or artificial waterways, to make even more places accessible by water. The combination of canals and steamboats made travel of people and goods over water both speedy and cheap. -
Communication
Communication required the transportation of people or paper -
First telegraph
Samuel F.B Morse found a way to send messages by an electric current. He demonstrated the first successful telegraph. -
Steamboats
Steamboats were a common sight on rivers, steaming their way across a watery transportation network. -
Importance of the telegraph
There were telegraph offices in every important city. Telegraphs allowed Americans to transfer information in minutes instead of days. -
Homestead Act
The government encouraged the development of the land with the passage of the Homestead Act. The act granted 160 acres of land to settlers who agreed to establish farms. -
Steam-powered railroads
Steam-powered railroads later replaced steamboats as the most efficient means of transporting goods. -
First telephone
The first telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell. -
Automobiles
The invention of automobiles was the next revolution in transportation. Mass production techniques pioneered by automobiles manufactured by Henery Ford made automobiles cheap to the public. -
New growth in cities
Many rural places were all but abandoned by people who had left for new jobs and homes in the centers of transportation and production in the new industrial economy. -
Growth of railroads
People and goods in nearly every settled part of the country were within reach of a railroad. -
Telephones wires
Telephone wires connected people from coast to coast. Well over 90 percent of United States household now have telephones. -
Clearing the forest
The forests of the east were depleted or converted to farmland, so the lumber industry moved west. A better understanding of forest ecosystems is leading to better management of the nation's timber. -
Constructing Highways
More and more people owned cars, the nation began building an interstate highway system- a network of roads that link major cities across the nation.