transportation in the states 2/28/07 10:07 AM

Between railroads, canals and stem boats, private financing was the least
important with canals and canals were mostly financed by state
governments
•new york state was the first to act it had a natural advantage between
the Hudson river ad lake erie
•the debate of the erie canal ended when DeWitt Clinton became
governor
•funds from the erie canal start to disappear came from three sources
othe first was government bonds
oearmarked taxes
oand tolls
•whats going to happen is that it lowers the cost of shipping per ton
from buffalo to new york city from $100 to $10
Wheat
•

• P=$5 and Q-150$

MALTHUS said that people would eventually starve to death because the
environment would not be able to carry the population at its currently
expanding rate
end result increase in quantity but a decrese in price means more favorable
for cheaper shipping and better technology
the demand scurve shifts as a result of population growth ad the supply
curve shifts as a result of technology
the lower transportation of canals steam boats, and railroads benefited
society three ways
•consumer pays a lower price
•farmers got a larger share of the selling price, meaning that their
profit margin increased even through price was going down
•and new areas were settle dand added to the national market
•this is what we call a goodie goodie – in this situation we are able to
satisfy more wants with fewer resources
the logistics of the canal
•40ft wide
 •only 4 ft deep
•with towpaths for horses and mules
•and roughly 360 miles long an enormous engineering feat
•finished October 1825 and it took nine years to complete
•ad a financial success
•within seven years, the tolls paid for the canals
•ad it provided a direct route to the great lakes
lumber, grain, and meat products going east and textiles leather goods
hardware, and imported food and all other things coming from Europe going
westthi is going to cause trade and specialization and compartive advantage
and all the other goodeie goodie stuff
other canals weren’t so successful
the Wabash and erie canal was longer (450 miles) from the great city of
Toledo and went all the way to Evansville
the Miami canal-erie canal ad the black river canal and the Delaware Raritan
canal they barely broke even and some lost money but they are going to
have a lot of externalities
•people start moving west and there are some Indians there and this
causes a big roblem and is going o cause a problem with Andrew
Jackson, whit epeople start moving and Andrew jacson starts the
Indian removal act
•this causes a whole revolution in the population
•in the south it is eve worse because cotton fields start extending into
texas and that’s how you get the trail of tears
However one of the intermediate results of these new transortations
increased white settlers in the old northwest
•obviously this caused the last resistance of the Indians in the old
northwest and there chief was the famous Blackhawk
Farming in the south pushed out the Seminole Indians (this got ugly) under
osacola
•and also have the creek, Cherokee, Choctaw and were forced off their
land because the spread of cotton cultivation
•osacola fought for several years under federal forces
otricked him into a truce and captured him
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