1. Chapter 10: Section Two – Westward Bound (1)
Moving West
1st U.S. census (the official count of the population) in 1790
showed a population of almost 4 million people. Most lived
east of the Appalachian Mountains within a couple hundred
miles of the Atlantic.
In a decade these statistics changed. Settlers heading
west increased by leaps and bounds.
30 years after the first census (1820) the population had
more than doubled to 10 million people. Nearly 2 million
people now lived west of the Appalachians.
Travel wasn’t easy. A 363 mile trip from New York City to
Buffalo (NY) could take as long as three weeks.
Pioneers heading west also faced hardships and dangers
along with their demanding trips.

2. Chapter 10: Section Two – Westward Bound (2)
Roads and Turnpikes
- Private companies built turnpikes (toll roads) in order to
extract money from the pioneers as they made their trips.
Many of the roads that were built left a lot to be desired.
Corduroy roads made of logs laid side by side.
Ohio joined the Union in 1803 and asked the federal govt. to
build a road to connect it to the East.
In 1806 Congress approved funds for a National Road to the
West & five years later agreed on the route. Construction
was stopped during the War of 1812, but was eventually
built, although the first section wasn’t completed until 1818.
River Travel
- Had its advantages but had 2 problems: 1. most of the rivers

3. Chapter 10: Section Two – Westward Bound (3)
flowed north to south, rather than east to west, and 2. by
traveling upstream by barge found the going very slow.
Steam engines were being used on boats in the 1780s and
1790s.
- James Rumsey = Potomac River with a small boat.
John Fitch built a steamboat that navigated the Delaware
River.
Neither boat had much power.
In 1802 Robert Livingston hired Robert Fulton to develop
a steamboat with a powerful engine. 1n 1807 Fulton had
his boat the Clermont ready for its test. This steamboat
made the 150 mile trip from New York to Albany in the then
unheard-of time of 32 hours. Boats with only sails would
take 4 days.

4. Chapter 10: Section Two – Westward Bound (4)
Steamboat travel was quickly embraced by everyone. With
this new technology shipping goods became cheaper and
faster.
Steamboat travel contributed to the growth of cities like
Cincinnati and St. Louis.
Canals
Steamboats helped transportation, but had to rely upon the
routes that used the existing rivers geographies.
Steamboats alone could not effectively tie the eastern and
western parts of the U.S. together.
In New York DeWitt Clinton came up with a plan to link NYC
with the Great Lakes. He proposed building the Erie canal
that would connect Albany (Hudson) with Buffalo (Lake Erie).