Another important factor in American economic development was the vast land area which the country acquired as a result of Louisiana Purchase and the later Mexican Cession. The value of American land was dependent upon the transportation facilities available to capitalize on what the land could produce. The bays, inlets and rivers had provided ample transportation during the colonial period, but as settlers moved over the Appalachian Mountains, even though the Mississippi River Valley and its many tributaries provided a route to the sea, development of new means of transportation was critical.
In the early 1800s John Fitch and Robert Fulton developed the steamboat and made it commercially profitable. Soon steamboats began to ply America's waterways from the Mississippi eastward. By the late 1840s, steamships had
Captured much of the Atlantic freight and passenger traffic. Those British-built vessels, stronger and larger than wooden sailing ships, challenged America's shipbuilding industry. Competition, subsidies, and new technology had reduced shipping rates, and bargain rates in steerage enabled tens of thousands of Europeans to immigrate to America.
Regular scheduled voyages across the Atlantic were soon part of the trade system. In 1816 the Black Ball Line commenced operation with twice monthly voyages between New York and Liverpool using small but efficient packet ships. Both steam and sailing vessels were still used as packets until after the Civil War, and the appearance of the slender 19-knot clipper ship dramatically reduced travel time across the Atlantic and from the east to the west coast of North America around Cape Horn. The clippers could not carry much cargo because of their sleek design, but they ruled the world of sailing ships for about 20 years. Although English iron ships were often superior to those made in America, the British soon recognized American enterprise and concentrated on trade routes aside from the North Atlantic run.
The result was that foreign commerce grew dramatically in the 1840s and 1850s. The United States exported mostly raw materials (cotton was the most valuable export), and it usually imported more (mostly manufactured goods) than it exported, in terms of cargo value. Great Britain was both the best customer of the United States and its leading supplier.
World History
