The sentiments Calhoun expressed were popular throughout the country. Traveling on American roads and turnpikes in the early 19th century was difficult, time-consuming, and costly. Roads and turnpikes often were no more than unpaved paths carved through the wilderness. If they were paved at all, it was usually with crushed stone packed down by the weight of the wagons that passed over them.
Water transportation was more popular and less expensive. Initially, boats were powered by wind (sail) or manpower (manned oars). In 1807, Robert Fulton introduced the first successful steamboat. Steamboats had a dramatic impact on water transportation. They were well suited to traveling on American rivers. The vessels were flat, speedy, and able to maneuver in shallow water.
In his inaugural address in March 1817, President James Monroe echoed Calhoun's message. "We can not fail to entertain ... the advantage to be derived from... good roads and canals," he said.
Calhoun and Monroe's words seemed to spark a transportation revolution overnight. Americans were eager to expand westward. They also wanted to reach more markets for trade. Those interests added to the general support for improved transportation.
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Eye in the Sky
An interview with Joe Piotrowski
Airborne Animals
Humans have taken to the skies in balloons, gliders, and airplanes-but we're not alone among the clouds. Animals of all sorts have evolved to harness wind power.
TAKING OFF
The Wright brothers expected airplanes to “take off,” but even they might be amazed at the way the airline industry has become big business. In the past, it was expensive to send something by plane.
GROWTH OF AN INDUSTRY
After their historic flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright returned to Dayton, Ohio. They spent the next few years making adjustments and building additional versions of their powered aircraft in their bicycle shop.
WHY KITTY HAWK?
The Wright brothers searched carefully for the best place to test their gliders and flying machines. Their main concern was for good, steady winds. But they also hoped to find a remote location to allow them to perform tests away from the public eye.
Two Brothers From Ohio
Most people do not realize that the Wright brothers—Wilbur, born in 1867, and Orville, born in 1871—performed various scientific experiments before inventing their aircraft. For as long as anyone in their hometown of Dayton, Ohio, could remember, the Wright boys had worked on mechanical projects.
A Helping Hand
May 6, 1896. A group of people who had gathered beside the Potomac River, just south of the U.S. capital, grew quiet. Then, it erupted in cheers as a small, unmanned aircraft took to the skies and flew for more than half a mile. The flight came seven years before the Wright brothers’ first manned, powered flight. The inventor of the aircraft was Dr. Samuel Pierpont Langley.
THE IDEA MEN
People dreamed of flying thousands of years before the Wright brothers found success near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. These dreamers, such as Leonardo da Vinci, studied birds flying and imagined how humans might do the same—if only they had wings. Other men developed a more hands-on approach to the topic. Early inventors made wings of cloth, glue, and feathers and tied these creations to their arms in an attempt to imitate nature.
Da Vinci's 4 Designs
Have you ever wondered how a bird flies? Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) did. He thought that understanding how a bird flies would provide the key to human flight. So, what did da Vinci learn from birds?
Silken Wings
Seven hundred years before the Wright brothers began experimenting with human flight, the Chinese had already mastered its secrets—with kites.
