Before 1790, the American economy started to grow due to Alexander Hamilton’s activity. The most evident developments appeared within the domestic sector. His policy included funding of the internal, foreign, and state debts, as well as the foundation of the First Bank of the US. He also managed to establish a decent credit basis. However, during 1790-1860, such factors as alterations in transportation, communications, and agricultural production lead to tremendous growth in the whole US economy.
Agriculturalists, land speculators, and merchants were considered as the main investors in transportation corporations. While merchants and speculators were investing money with the aim of obtaining dividends, for the agriculturalists transportation was of high value. Such improvements as building bridges, canals and railroads assisted them with trading on a wider level. In addition, transportation improvements lead to the development of various urban areas, which gave a possibility to stay in touch. It is also worth noting that coasting trade became more efficacious due to the ships, lighthouses, and tugs. Coastwise vessels, in its turned, tied East, West, North, and South together (Wright, 2015).
Considering some fantastic breakthroughs that were the reason of drastic economic growth, one may distinguish the Erie Canal built in 1825. This waterway connected the Great Lakes and Hudson River also giving access to the Atlantic Ocean (Seavoy, 2006). Very soon, crops from the Great Lakes were transported to the eastern cities. At the same time, the eastern factories made a reverse to the western farmers. The success of this canal lead to an extensive building of such “artificial rivers”. Robert Fulton introduced the steamboats used for commercial purposes that made two-way routes. By 1830, there were more than 200 steamboats. The refining of railroads also assisted in economic growth. For this reason, there were no troubles in transporting goods from one city to another (Matson, 2003).
Such big improvements were the reason for both spreading goods along with the important information. The so-called transportation revolution lead to the great alterations in the means of communication. The invention of telegraph brought human communication to absolutely new levels. In addition, within the next few years, the telegraph lines started being taken for granted. For example, during the Mexican-American war, they served as a tool for carrying information to the eastern newspapers (Matson, 2003).
Finally, the communication and transportation alterations of life lead to important transformations in the lives of the American people in the field of agricultural production. Previously, farmers produced crops mainly for themselves. During this period, they were involved in trade marketing. The farmers started earning money by selling the goods and purchased the things they used to produce themselves. Due to cheap and rather convenient transportation, they started providing the urban citizens with needed products. Thus, prosperous agricultural centers occurred on the east of the US. Such activity also influenced the economic growth in America in a beneficial way (Meyer, 2008).
References
Matson, C. (2003). Risky business: winning and losing in the American economy, 1780-1850. Philadelphia: Library Company
Meyer, D., R. (2008, March 16). The Roots of American Industrialization, 1790-1860. Economic History Association. Retrieved from https://eh.net/encyclopedia/the-roots-of-american-industrialization-1790-1860/
Seavoy, R. E. (2006). An economic history of the United States: From 1607 to the present. New York, NY: Routledge.
Wright, R., E. (2015, March 24). Financing US economic development, 1788-1860. NYU STERN. Retrieved from http://www.stern.nyu.edu/sites/default/files/assets/documents/Finance%20and%20Growth,%201790-1860-2.pdf
