American Settlement Patterns

Effects of Transportation on American Demographics and Settlement Patterns

Imagine living before the time of cars, or trains, or even steamboats. Getting around would probably be pretty difficult. That’s why advancements in transportation are very important in the life of the average American. Transportation improvements have had a huge impact on American demographics and settlement patterns. For example, steamboats made water transportation faster and more easily accessible. Steam locomotives, or trains, sped up land travel. The later invention of cars and the interstate system further provided a form of fast transportation across the country. All these examples changed the way Americans travel, and therefore change where they settled down to start their lives. Steamboats were introduced to America when John Fitch sent a steamboat down the Delaware River on August 22, 1787. Over the next fifty years, steamboats became a major form of transportation through American rivers. Speeding up trips and lowering their costs, steamboats allowed many Americans
It wasn’t until 1862, though, that the Pacific Railroad Act enacted the building of the Transcontinental Railroad. For seven years the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroad companies built, one starting on the east coast and the other on the west, and finally met in Promontory, Utah, on May 10, 1869. There the historic golden spike was driven in, uniting the country from east to west. This railroad became a quick form of transportation across the country, allowing migration to western states such as California. The Transcontinental Railroad also sped up the process of sending mail; previously, mail had been sent with horses, which could take weeks or months. The trains allowed mail to be transported in only a week or so. Trains made transportation much faster for both people and