National Road
(noun)
The first major improved highway in the United States to be built by the federal government.
Examples of National Road in the following topics:
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The Rise of the West
- In 1803, Jefferson's Louisiana Purchase doubled the size of the nation.
- In 1811, construction began on the National Road or Cumberland Road, the first major improved highway in the United States to be built by the federal government.
- Ease of travel on the National Road contributed to the rapid decline of the Wilderness Road.
- As American expansion continued, Native Americans resisted settlers' encroachment in several regions of the new nation.
- Throughout the 19th century, Native American nations on the plains in the west continued armed conflicts with the United States in the Indian Wars.
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Transportation: Roads, Canals, and Railroads
- In the nineteenth century, the construction of roads, rails, and canals dramatically improved national mobility.
- New and improved transportation technology made it easier and faster to transport goods: first national roads, then canals, and finally the railroad revolution.
- Following the report, work began on a National Road to connect the west to the eastern seaboard.
- In 1815, construction on the National Road (also known as the "Cumberland Road") began in Cumberland, Maryland; by 1818, the road had reached Wheeling, West Virginia (then part of Virginia).
- Other railway initiatives would follow, subsequently creating a network linking all corners of the nation.
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The Wilderness Road
- The Wilderness Road was a westward route used by many immigrants that stretched from Virginia through the Appalachian mountains.
- Hence, for safety reasons, entire communities and church congregations would often travel the road together to found new settlements, taking advantage of the defensive log blockhouses (or stations) built alongside the road for protection.
- When the National Road was opened in 1818, allowing travel to the Ohio River on level ground from the East, the westward travelers abandoned the the difficult and dangerous Wilderness Road.
- The era of lengthy foot-travel over the mountains was effectively over; however, the Wilderness Road still remains as a national park and bits of highway that still connect the east to the west.
- Course of the Wilderness Road, through Tennessee and Kentucky, by 1785.
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The Role of the Government
- The American System envisioned the development of a system of internal improvementswhich would knit the nation together and be financed by tariffs and land sales revenues.
- Internal improvements consisted of public works mainly for the creation of a transportation infrastructure, including roads, turnpikes, canals, harbors, and navigation improvements.
- In 1811, Congress authorized construction of a National Road, a project which was only partially completed with federal funds.
- In order to protect the nation's business from foreign competition, advocates of the American System also supported protective tariffs.
- The American System achieved some successes; however, Whig legislation was repeatedly blocked at the national level by anti-federalists.
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The Adams Presidency
- Adams encouraged internal improvements (such as roads, ports, and canals), the founding of a national university, and federal support for the arts and sciences.
- He also reduced the national debt from $16 million to $5 million, the remainder of which was paid off by his successor.
- This system consisted of a high tariff to support internal improvements such as road-building, as well as the charter of a national bank to encourage productive enterprise and to form a national currency.
- In his first annual message to Congress, Adams presented an ambitious program for modernization that included roads, canals, a national university, an astronomical observatory, and other initiatives.
- Some of Adams's proposals were adopted, such as the extension of the Cumberland Road into Ohio with surveys for its continuation west to St.
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Economic Nationalism
- The "American System," a term synonymous with "National System" and "Protective System," was a system of economics that represented the legacy of Alexander Hamilton, secretary of the treasury under George Washington's presidency.
- As later defined by Senator Henry Clay, who became known as the "Father of the American System," the American System unified the nation north to south, east to west, and city to farmer.
- This had much to do with the perceived need to overcome the economic and financial chaos the nation suffered under the Articles of Confederation.
- Create physical infrastructure: Provided government finance of internal improvements to speed commerce and develop industry, which involved the regulation of privately held infrastructure to ensure that it met the nation's needs; policy examples include Cumberland Road and Union Pacific Railroad.
- Create financial infrastructure: Established a government-sponsored National Bank to issue currency and encourage commerce, which involved the use of sovereign powers for the regulation of credit to encourage the development of the economy and deter speculation; policy examples include the First Bank of the United States, the Second Bank of the United States, and the National Banking Act.
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Relief and Conservation Programs
- The New Deal thus included many major, federally-financed public works projects, including the construction of bridges, airports, dams, post offices, courthouses, and thousands of kilometers of road.
- They also built an infrastructure, much of which remains in use today, and which helped restore national and local pride during the difficult 1930s.
- There were numerous rural welfare projects sponsored by the WPA, NYA, Forest Service, and Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), including school lunch programs, construction of new schools, construction of roads in remote areas, reforestation, and purchase of marginal lands to enlarge national forests.
- The New Deal included some of the first national welfare programs, including Social Security, passed in August of 1935 and still in operation today.
- The Public Works projects provided relief for the unemployed while upgrading the nation's infrastructure.
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The Louisiana Purchase
- New western states of America were only loosely tied to the centers of national power in the East.
- For more than fifty years, European-American settlers used the Wilderness Road as the primary route to reach Kentucky from the eastern seaboard.
- The Wilderness Road was steep and rough, and it only could be traversed on foot or horseback, making passage difficult.
- In the span of a few decades, more than 200,000 settlers and invaders traveled via the Wilderness Road.
- By 1840, the Wilderness Road was largely abandoned, although modern highways still follow much of its original route.
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Relief Measures
- The National Industrial Recovery Act (1933) gave Roosevelt broad powers to regulate industry and launch public works projects.
- Other agencies undertook a wide range of government-financed public works projects, building bridges, airports, dams, post offices, courthouses, and thousands of kilometers of road.
- As noted by one authority, Roosevelt's New Deal "was literally stamped on the American landscape. " Perhaps more importantly, the projects put millions of unemployed back to work and contributed to the restoration of national pride.
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The War in the South
- The War of 1812 included attacks against American Indians by the United States on the nation's western and southern borders.
- This decision ignited civil war in the Creek Nation.
- Although Jackson's mission was to defeat the Creek and expand U.S. territory, his larger objective was to move south, build roads, and stage an attack on Pensacola.
- Jackson spent the next month building roads and training his force.
- United States nationalism soared after the victory at the Battle of New Orleans.