They also contributed to the sectional jealousies and rivalries that set the stage for the Civil War. Not until the end of the century would transportation networks form a national economy. In the early 19th century, most roads were dreadful. They served local needs, allowing farmers to get produce to market.
Americans who did travel long distances overland to settle the West rode on wagon trails, like the Oregon Trail, rather than well-defined roads. Still, a few major roads served as important transportation links. The National Road, initially funded by the federal government, stretched from Cumberland, Maryland, to Columbus, Ohio by The Erie Canal, built with state funding, was completed in Its economic success sparked a wave of canal building.
By , the United States had 3, miles of canals. In , the United States celebrated its centennial. As a result of purchase, diplomacy, and war, the nation spread from coast to coast. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and connecting the army with the vital port of Wilmington.
In the North Carolina Railroad carried 90, passengers; in , , passengers, mostly soldiers, rode the line. Freight volume eventually exceeded carrier capacity and piled up at stations along the line. The industry that shouldered this burden had lost many skilled railroad crews and unskilled maintenance workers to the army and was totally cut off from its sources of iron rails, locomotives, and spare parts.
Replacement rails were cannibalized from little-used lines. Replacement locomotives were acquired primarily from orphaned Virginia lines taken over by Union forces. The result was a crippling deterioration of track, roadbed, equipment, and service. Union forces, equally dependent on the railroad for supplies, repaired the damage almost as quickly. At the end of the conflict, the state's railroads were in a shabby condition, due more to lack of maintenance and overuse than wartime destruction.
Recovery occurred relatively rapidly with the assistance of the federal government, which sold off captured rolling stock on easy terms, and the repairs made by the Union army. But during the inept administration of Governor William W. Holden , most of these funds were lost to corruption and extravagant spending at the hands of North Carolinians like George W.
Ships of varying sizes could carry between and 1, tons. Estimates by a U. Army supply officer are that a boat on the Ohio River carrying tons could provide supplies for 40, men and 18, horses for two days.
Steamships ferrying Union troops played an important role in allowing the Union to aggressively pursue its campaign on the Mississippi and Tennessee rivers, among others. Ships bringing Union reinforcements after the first bloody day at the battle of Shiloh provided the margin for victory for General Grant the following day. And while both sides used both steamboats and sailing ships made from wood, ships covered in armor, known as ironclads, were used for the first time.
Both the North and the South used horses as a speedier means of transportation than marching and as an advantage in battle. Simple wagons operated by a driver and pulled by horses or mules were commonly used to transport supplies.
Most roads at the time were poorly designed and maintained dirt roads although several major well-developed roads that made transportation faster and more efficient existed too.
In addition to these long-used means of transportation, advancing new technology played a very important role as well. Steamboats, which moved across rivers and a network of canals built in the first half of the century, were a cheaper and faster way to transport large amounts of supplies, humans, and animals. Railroads, which developed rapidly after , were also widely used by the Union and the Confederacy military forces.
Today, this term is considered offensive and disrespectful. Until the s, however, it was used as a descriptive neutral or non-offensive term that both black and white Americans used to refer to African Americans.
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