HIST 127 Lecture Notes - Lecture 19: Practical Reason
Document Summary
Time to get from point a to point b shrunk dramatically isolation of america began to broke down by middle of the century. Much of political transformation credit goes to generation of career politicians. Political decisions contingent upon lives of americans. Fierce debates break out over whose values would dominate. Economy had barely changed since late 1800s. Reason: for most american farmers, no practical reason to try to expand production to sell their goods bc there was no way they could get their goods to market. Cheaper to ship 3,000 miles across atlantic than 30 miles inland. Changes in economy in new generation because of changes in transportation. More roads built, extensive network of turnpikes. Largest canal in the us when it opened. Movement of wheat (2 cents per mile - decreased from 18 cents per mile - 90% cheaper) Paid for itself within a few years.
