Term paper on Canals And Railroads
Canals And Railroads Essays
While the free essays can give you inspiration for writing, they cannot be used 'as is' because they will not meet your assignment's requirements. If you are in a time crunch, then you need a custom written term paper on your subject (canals and railroads)
Here you can hire an independent writer/researcher to custom write you an authentic essay to your specifications that will pass any plagiarism test (e.g. Turnitin). Waste no more time!
Canals, Trains, and Knick-Knacks
Initially, prominent American figures did not want the nation to be dependent on manufacturing. They feared the poverty they witnessed in European factory towns would be mimicked, and feared that it would erode American ideals. But as people realized that a stronger economy was needed to ensure the future of the nation, they began to advocate industrialization and feel that it was vital.a
Alexander Hamilton can be said to have been a proponent of facilitating industrialization. Heilbroner speculates that Alexander Hamilton, the Secretary of the Treasury, sought to encourage manufacturing by solving the debt problems of the United States. He wanted to refinance all outstanding bonds with a money reserve built on fixed taxes, and have the federal government absorb all state debts. He also established a national bank. This, he felt, would be a secure place for tax generated revenues and would at the same time provide credit for people willing to take risks in the manufacturing industry. Despite his efforts, it was too easy for people to continue with their established economic tendencies, and few felt compelled to move away from agriculture. Not until the Embargo Act of 1807 would people really begin to change.1
The Embargo Act of 1807, encouraged Americans to find ways of producing needed materials at home. Heilbroner has asserted that the Embargo Act, which prohibited US ships from leaving port for foreign countries and called for the monitoring of coastal trade, ruined anyone and everyone involved in exporting. Simultaneously, importation became heavily retarded. This left many people jobless and idle, and the economy, he says, "ground to a halt." The result? People began to turn to manufacturing to make the goods that were no longer available. Fifteen cotton mills that had been built by 1808 turned into eighty-seven within a year.2
For all intents and purposes, manufacturing in America was not practical. Heilbroner has noted several factors that were hindering the development of manufacturing in America. America's expansive size created a couple of problems. There was no cost-effective way of transporting manufactured goods from their origin to the other far away regions of the country.
Also, with so much land available, a concentrated population of willing industrial laborers failed to exist. People were more apt to tame a piece of the available wilderness to farm for themselves than to toil in someone else's mill. Of equal importance was the lack of a technological foundation - one that could produce complex machinery with a large variety of complicated parts. An effective means of transportation would be the first step in overcoming these problems. Railroads and canals would provide a solution. 3
The Erie canal ,which was completed in 1825, had a profound impact on the economy of the northern region. Heilbroner notes that, as a result of the canal, the cost of transporting freights to New York from the west was reduced by 90%. He states that the cost of shipping one ton of cargo from Buffalo to New York was 20 cents a mile in 1817. By the mid-1850s, after the completion of the Erie canal, the cost fell to less than one cent a ton-mile. This caused the volume of goods entering the economy to increase drastically. In 1836, about 58,000 tons moved along the Erie canal. By 1860, the number of tons increased to 1.8 million.4 The Erie canal significantly reduced the cost of moving goods and raw materials, and it had other effects on the economy as well.
The Erie canal encouraged the planning of other canal projects. Heilbroner claims that at least one hundred major canal projects were planned within a year of the completion of the Eerie canal. The cumulative cost of canal...
MLA Style
. EssayMania.com. Retrieved on 12 Feb, 2012 from
<http://essaymania.com/113427/canals-and-railroads>
More College Papers
Canada 2
Canada is still correcting unjust treatment of our Aboriginal citizens, and
the end is not yet in sight. However, Canada has a better record, than
another former British colony, South Africa. For 250 years, South African
treatment of its original peoples, was an international shame.
"Apartheid"
Caesar
Julius Caesar is one of the famous personalities in world history. It was Caesar who ended the Roman republic and paved the way for the later Roman emperors. Although there is a lot written about him, there was always debate if he was a hero or a villain. But for many people, including myself, Caesa
Australia In The Vietnam War
The only time Australia has come under direct attack from another country, was when Japan bombed Darwin and sunk a number of ships in Sydney, during World War 2. The question then has to be asked, why Australia has been involved in so many conflicts. A number of recent conflicts in this century come