Main ideas:
- Transportation routes such as roads improved as settlers moved west, and steamboats greatly improved the transport of goods along rivers.
- Business and government officials came up with a plan to build a canal to link the eastern and western parts of the country.
After reading, you should be able to:
- Discuss how transportation improvements helped settlers to move west.
- Describe the Erie Canal and its impact on the nation.
- Outline changes in western settlement in the early 1800s.
source: Glencoe, The American Journey
