Buggies, Bicycles, And Iron Horses: Transportation In The 1800s (daily Life In America In The 1800s)

In today's world, where we routinely zip down the highway at 70 miles per hour and we can fly coast-to-coast in a matter of hours, it is hard to imagine the revolution in transportation that took place in the 1800s. From a world where most people rarely traveled faster than their legs could carry them or much beyond their home towns, the 1800s witnessed an amazing and rapid development of technology, improvements in infrastructure, and a national will to conquer the vast distances of a growing country. Through the work of inventors, individual entrepreneurs, and municipalities, Americans found new opportunities for traveling conveniently from place to place within their communities, and a frontier nation was unified by rail, by road, and by a sense of national identity. This is the story of nineteenth-century America on the move! Contents Introduction Part I. Hoofin’ It: The Era of Muscle Power Part II. Canoes, Clippers, and River Queens Part III. Iron Horses Think About It Words Used in This Book Find Out More Index Picture Credits About the Author and the Consultant Provides an overview of transportation in nineteenth-century America, including buggies, bicycles, and iron horses