Early Hopes.

In 1808 Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin called for a federally supported national transportation system. He suggested that roads, turnpikes, and canals be constructed to bring the new nation together, but Gallatin's plan, however appealing, never materialized. The questionable constitutionality of a federally funded transportation program; the constant bickering among cities, states, and regions; and the rapid changes in technology and population densities rendered such ideas impossible to implement. During the antebellum period a national transportation structure emerged, and by 1860 almost anyone living east of Texas could reach New York City within six days.

Steamboats.

The eastern half of North America is blessed with many navigable bodies of water. The Mississippi-Missouri-Ohio River systems and the Great Lakes make for comparatively easy internal travel and shipping. In 1807 Robert Fulton's steamboat, the Clermont, chugged up the Hudson River from New York City...