The Erie Canal opened in 1825, linking Lake Erie to the Hudson River. What happened to the cost of shipping a ton of goods along that route?

The Erie Canal opened in 1825, and within a few decades New York City handled more shipping than any other American port. How did the canal cause that growth?

Buffalo, Rochester, and Syracuse sat along the Erie Canal route. What happened to towns like these in the years after the canal opened?

After the first transcontinental railroad was completed in 1869, goods from the Pacific coast could reach markets in the East without a long sea voyage around South America.

Before the railroad, crossing the country by wagon took months. How did the finished transcontinental railroad change that journey?

Steamboats began carrying cargo on wide rivers such as the Mississippi. What could a steamboat do that a flatboat carried by the current could not?

Unlike canals and railroads, which carried goods, the ___ carried messages across the country in minutes along wires.

Railroad companies laid track far from rivers and canals. What effect did this have on where people settled in the West?

By the 1850s railroads were carrying much of the freight that canals once handled. Which advantage helped trains take that business?

A Midwestern farmer in 1850 shipped wheat east by steamboat and canal boat. How did cheaper transportation change what farmers chose to grow?

How did railroads help farmers on the Great Plains, far from any river or canal?

After the Erie Canal linked the Hudson River to the Great Lakes in 1825, boats could reach farmland far inland. What effect did this access likely have on land prices near the canal?

True or False: After the Erie Canal opened in 1825, the tolls it collected from boats helped pay for other public projects in New York State.

Steamboats could deliver goods much faster than flatboats that only drifted with the current. What effect did this speed have on trade along the Mississippi?

In the 1830s, steam locomotives began replacing horse-drawn railroad cars. What effect did this change have on how much cargo trains could carry?

Construction on the National Road began in 1811, giving wagons a maintained route west from Cumberland, Maryland. What effect did this road have on westward migration?

True or False: In the 1850s, railroads in the North and the South used the same track width, so trains could easily roll from one to the other.

The first transcontinental telegraph line was completed in 1861, letting messages cross the country in minutes. What effect did this have on how businesses got market news?

Chicago was a small town in 1830, but railroads connected it to markets across the country by the 1850s. What effect did the railroads have on Chicago?

Before railroads spread widely, most heavy trade goods moved along rivers such as the Mississippi. What effect did this have on where early trading towns grew?

True or False: A town that a new railroad line passed by could shrink as trade moved to towns along the tracks.

What did the Transcontinental Railroad connect in 1869?

Who did railroad expansion often harm as settlers moved west?

Because canals and railroads could carry heavy loads such as grain, coal, and lumber cheaply, what effect did this have on which goods businesses could ship long distances?

True or False: Better transportation made it easier for different regions to trade with each other.

What was one reason canals were cheaper than wagon roads for moving heavy cargo?

As trade between regions grew in the 1800s, what did factories in the Northeast often send to farmers in the Midwest?

How did railroads affect time zones in the United States?

True or False: The Erie Canal connected the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River.

Turnpike companies began charging travelers a toll to use their roads starting in the 1790s. What effect did collecting tolls have on the roads themselves?

Why did many settlers use trails such as the Oregon Trail?

True or False: The Erie Canal helped bring many new settlers to the Great Lakes region, including Ohio and Michigan.

What did faster transportation do for communication before phones and the internet?

Which statement best explains why railroads were important to industry?

What natural feature did the Mississippi River provide for transportation?

True or False: Workers building the transcontinental railroad could go around the peaks of the Sierra Nevada mountains, so they never had to blast any tunnels.

How did transportation improvements affect the price of many goods?

Which workers played an important role in building the Transcontinental Railroad?

In 1869, workers drove a golden spike to join the two halves of the first transcontinental railroad, linking the nation from coast to coast. Where did this happen?

True or False: The Erie Canal was dug mostly by large machines powered by electricity.