How Did The Industrial Revolution Affect Westward Expansion

Johannes Muller
11473862
Word Count:1580

Modern America
Question 5
In this essay I will discuss the following question. "How did the industrial revolution impact westward expansion". Without the industrial revolution impact on westward expansion we would not have the America we see today. The industrial revolution took place between 1760 and 1840 around the world. The westward expansion took place from 1807 to 1912. Without the industrial revolution, westward expansion would have failed. Without the westward expansion America would be very different today but how did this come about. Firstly I will discuss how the invention of the steamboat changed transport in America and opened up news ways of transport. Secondly I will discuss the
The impact of the steamboat was massive throughout America but especially on the Mississippi River. Due to rivers always flowing down river out to the sea there was no way up. Traders would send down there goods on boats, but would have to destroy the boats to make a long travel home. With the invention of the steamboat traders and merchants could now travel back and forth without destroying a boat, or enduring a long journey returning. This made trading easier and really made the steamboat very popular in America so much so that the number of them jumped from seventeen to sixty-nine and then to seven hundred and twenty-seven, thirty five years later. It was a marvellous invention, nevertheless the disadvantage was it tended to catch fire. Without the invention of steam during this age, this invention would not have been built. The impact of the steamboat on the west was tremendous. It allowed people trade goods easier and further west. This meant people were not afraid to move west as they could still get there goods from the steamboat. It also carried peopled west and was a cheap from of transport for poor families wanting a fresh start in the west. Although the steam boat was great it did need water to be useful. The use of canals which I will discuss next
Railroads began around the mid 1820s in America but had it 's peak years from the 1880s to 1920s. Steam was used to power trains which at the time were called locomotives. Steam again being used as an invention from the industrial revolution. Railroads would not have been invented only for the industrial revolution. In places like Boston which had no other transport routes to Western America it played a huge part in goods being transported west from the big port of Boston. One of the biggest bills under Lincoln 's presidency passed was The Pacific Railway Bill. This bill called for the construction of The Union Pacific railroad. The railroad would stretch from the Missouri River all the way to Sacramento in California in the West. Without this railroad America would be a lot different from the one we see today. This railroad really opened up the west for settlers. It meant you could go all the way from Missouri which is south Central America right across to the Pacific in the west. It was quicker than the canal and steamboat and was also easier to travel with luggage and family. There was a few problems with the railroad as it was very slow to build and was not usually state built. But it did really connect America those who were not connected by canal or river were now connected by railway. It really connected all of America. If a town had a railway in the west it brought with it growth and