National Road
-constructed as per otl starting in 1811 following first appropriation in 1806, road reaches from cumberland, maryland to wheeling by 1814 w/o war
-further roads to baltimore and washington
-zane's trace from wheeling to maysville kentucky integrated after revamping, and by 1824 further construction into ohio
-following luisiana war, extension of cumberland road planned to Harrisonopolis, missouri
-road from st louis missouri to vandalia, illinois completed by 1833
-by 1836, path between vandalia and ohio roads completed
-path from st louis to Harrisonopolis not done, though, for a while due to quasi war and tariff reductions
-ultimately road further extended to Harrisonopolis under webster, completing in 1847
-wheeling bridge constructed in 1840-1845 with federal funding, suspension bridge with removable middle part for steamboats (rarely used)
Second National Road
-road from washington to new orleans, planned by Harrison and clay and submitted to congress in 1828 to unify nation
-road from new orleans to Lille constructed by 1831
-road from washington to roanoke constructed by 1831 too
-road from roanoke to knoxville completed by 1835, subject to many delays
-path from Lille to knoxville opened up by indian removal, work done on it abruptly ends in 1839 due to second quasi war, tariff reductions
-under webster, path from Lille to ross's landing completed in 1847, and then to knoxville in 1849
Erie Canal
-American Presidents > 1809-1817 Aaron Burr (Republican, then Democratic) leading force behind project
-from 1809 planning begins
-opens in 1815 to mass applause
-also produces massive boom for new york, makes it leading city of eastern seaboard and us as new york becomes window to great lakes region
Ohio and Erie Canal
-long talked about, canal from ohio river to erie river
-as vp dewitt clinton secures congressional funding, also madison's reluctant support for canal, work underway in 1815
-endpoint set (through much bidding) to sandusky
-much irish labor used to construct canal, changes demographics of ohio a great deal
-opened in 1823, grand success
Ohio and Maumee Canal
-canal connecting toledo to ohio river
-funding secured along with ohio and erie canal
-opened in 1821, grand success
Pennsylvania Mainline Canal
-with erie canal due to open on schedule, philadelphians seek to compete with it
-plan for system of canals in 1819, including:
-existing part of union canal route
-also some impressive aqueducts to ensure canals full of water
-completion only partially interrupted by war, as pennsylvania only somewhat under threat and most construction at this point inland
-tunnels tough
-with desire of Burr and clintonians flushly funds canal and tunnel, completed, opens in 1828
-all of this makes pittsburg to philadelphia trip much quicker, from 23 days to 3 1/2 days
-helps to accentuate growth of pennsylvania and all, esp philly
-but not as big success as erie canal due to more limited capacity
Camden and Amboy Railroad
-john stevens got charter in 1815 for constructing horse powered railroad, runs experiments afterwards
-later on, in 1828, opens up locomotive imported from british isles for trials
-in 1831, secures railroad from delaware to raritan rivers to connect philly and ny, despite canal in area being constructed
-beats canal in being completed, immediately becomes grand success proving technology
-first telegraph line lain downline
Union Canal (Pennsylvania)
-with no war of 1812, able to get enough money to begin in 1813, completed in 1821 (fully to susquehanna)
-including the union canal tunnel, a 222 m tunnel, completed in 1817
-becomes part of Pennsylvania Canal system
Union Canal
-following erie canal, petition for new canal for georgetown dc, comes through with surveying in 1821
-then begun in 1827 postwar
-terminus at rock creek in dc
-lowly funded but some progress made following election of clay
-goes much better than otl due to more funding, also because there are not the severe disputes that wracked the project
-reaches harpers ferry in 1832
-reaches hancock by 1834
-reaches cumberland in 1839
-finally a few tunnels connect it to Youghiogheny river in 1846 (and from there to pittsburgh)
-further canals connect alexandria to union canal
-in 1848, railroad is begun from cumberland to pittsburgh, and in 1850s, from dc to cumberland, makes union canal partially obsolete
-in turn, baltimore gets railway to dc, results in it getting increased traffic but also it turning decisively into suburb of dc
Baltimore and Monongalia Canal
-long time baltimore seeks to create route to west
-all the talk yields nothing for some time, due to disputes with pennsylvania
-sets plan to cut way to Monongahela river in 1837
-badly delayed by labor disputes due to conflicts b/w irish and german laborers
-panic of 1842 results in money running out, work begins again in 1846
-finally reaches cumberland in 1849, by which time it has been decisively beaten by union canal
-turns baltimore into competitor along pennsylvania's mainline canal, despite some reluctance from virginia and pennsylvania's govts
-but nevertheless baltimore made to play second fiddle to pennsylvania by it, until railroad construction in 1840s and wartime use
James River and Kanawha Canal
-virginia seeks to compete by connecting james and kanawha rivers and thus richmond and the interior
-built up in 1810s and 1820s by state govt, with state funding under Harrison and clay presidencies
-first grand division from richmond to lynchsburg
-second grand division to covington, railroad to kanawha, and canal for navigability
-turnpikes substituted by portage railroads across appalachian mountains
-ultimately opens in 1836
-not as successful as dreamed
-but does connect richmond with interior of virginia as well as parts of midwest well
-richmond blooms thanks to it though
-during war, canal mostly destroyed, replaced afterwards by railroad fulfiling same purpose
Hiwasee Canal
-canal from ocoee to conasauga rivers
-under American Presidents > 1809-1817 Aaron Burr (Republican, then Democratic) people begin to talk about this
-results in some material prosperity for east tennessee as goods can be shipped through it from mississippi river to mobile
-but nevertheless tennessee legislature neglects east tennessee
Louisville, Cincinnati, and Charleston Railroad
-Ref
-gets constructed by associated state governments unlike in otl
-clay eager to conciliate south carolina to union, nudges kentucky and ohio to agree, also provides some funding
-in 1834 it's begun
-line from cincinnati to louisville to columbia gets done by 1837, also line from branchville to charleston
-panic of 1842 slows down rest of the work, though continues
-two lines connected to one another finally by 1845
-helps to boom charleston's economy a great deal
-for construction slave labor used in kentucky and sc, irish labor in ohio
Tennessee-Chattahoochee Canal
-Ref
-Ref
-so Atlanta gets made around canal instead of railroad
-constructed in 1820s, during canal boom after erie canal success
-largely used slave labor in construction
-main canal connecting tennessee to chattahoochee fully constructed in 1831
-other feeder canals constructed in the years later
-peachtree georgia (otl atlanta) gets founded due to canal boom, grows to be gigantic metropolis due to later railroads going through it
Illinois and Michigan Canal
-due to Chicago and the Illinois being in two separate states, it takes longer for the canal to get built, states bicker a lot
-slave state Illinois doesn't want too much free stater influence and so drags its feet
-following the 1844 election and subsequent increase in tariff, federal government steps in and constructs it, starting in 1848 after surveying
-requires making some very deep cuts in chicago river to reverse its flow
-construction mired in controversy over labor used to construct it, illinois not wanting irish labor
-after some gruelling construction, gets completed in 1857
-but by then, it's too late for chicago to become a railway hub and st. louis's position as the us's second city is secure
-with cincinnati being the midwest's other great railway hub
Pembina Pacific Railroad
-one terminus being Websteropolis, other being St. Paul
-railroad gets a fuckton of land on both sides of tracks
-Blackfeet removed from land because settlement of Commonwealth of Canada west results in fuckton of Plains Cree forced southwards from settlers and also Metis fleeing settlers
-with end of Blackfoot Wars railroad construction accelerates, sees end in 1858
-over 1860s transcontinental railroad is complete, but still settlement does happen northward
-with Liberty and Union War (1868-76), the Constitutional government gets to work with expanding Transcontinental Railroad northwards from 1871
Rivers
Mississippi River
-in 1830s excavation first attempted of Des Moines Rapids
-in 1850s there's also work done on making Rock Island Rapids navigable
-this allows for much superior navigation of Mississippi and unifies North-South trade paths
Missouri River
-series of improvements in the 1850s done to make [Fort Benton] accessible by steamer more easily