Pratt 1 Virginia Pratt Professor Stephen Tilson History 2700 26 March 2014 We are a three dimensional human race

and we live in a three dimensional world. Since the dawn of time we have lived a three dimensional existence. Therefore, it surprises me that we think predominantly in one and two dimensions. Especially when we consider historical events, we often think of the event in narrow terms. The transportation revolution is one such event. At first thought, we only think of the canals and railroads and how their speed and technology led to a quicker more unified country. When in fact the effects of this revolution are so wide and varied it takes some time to learn and read about. This paper will briefly discuss the affect the transportation revolution had on agriculture, clocks, and reading materials. The typical farmer of the day would "concentrate on raising food for his family." (Chapter 8, pg 262) Now with easy access to canals or railroads this farmer could specialize in one or two crops and have them transported to another city where he would make more money and provide a better way of life for his family. "No longer were more than nine-tenths of American agriculture and industry concentrated within a narrow strip extending no farther inland than a hundred miles from the Atlantic coast." (Source 10 pg 212) This new way of farming not only gave the typical farmers more money it also caused him and his family to think beyond their own existence. They could now interact with people from bigger cities and different cultures. They were able to eat food from different areas that they had not eaten before; they were not limited to eat exclusively from their own garden. They were now

Pratt 2 connected however loosely to bigger cities and their faster "pace and rhythms of American life." (Chapter 8, pg 267) This connection leads to the second effect of the transportation revolution, the clock. According to the book The American People Creating a Nation and a Society, "Before the 1830s, owning a clock was a luxury making exact planning and scheduling almost impossible." (Chapter 8, pg 267) However, now that people needed to know when to have their goods to the train station for transport or when a family member was traveling by train to visit, there was a need for mass produced timepieces. "Timepieces were essential for the successful operation of railroads and steamboats." (Chapter 8, page 267) Now the average rural American could own an "inexpensive mass-produced clock...encouraging a more disciplined use of time." (Chapter 8, pg 267) The mass-produced clock that was more affordable and easily accessible to the public is one of the effects that even a three dimensional thinker might not even consider as an affect of the transportation revolution. The final effect of the transportation revolution explored in this paper is the availability of reading materials. "Before the nineteenth century...many literate families had little to read other than a Bible and an almanac." (Chapter 8, pg 266) Because of the printing press improvements publishing reading materials became easier to print and cheaper to produce. Now reading materials were transported to many rural places that had not had the luxury of mass produced publications before. "Inexpensive reading material inspired and nourished literacy, and it encouraged a new sort of independence." (Chapter 8, pg 267) "Mainstream norms expressed in magazines and books," influenced more people. (Chapter 8, pg 267) This indirect revolution helped people to become more literate, more opinionated, independent and more informed on current events. The transportation revolution revolutionized such a myriad of industries, cultures, and norms that took many, many years to discover the extent of the affects. When learning about the importance

Pratt 3 of this pivotal revolution it is imperative to think in three dimensions. It is critical to see the impact was more than roadways, waterways, and speed. The impact was as diverse as the mass production of clocks for a more time conscientious people to the farmers changing the types and amounts of produce planted. The transportation revolution is one of the complex history events that continue to amaze and affect events today.