Improved
means of communication became essential, and when these were
furnished the new lines of internal trade knitted the nation into
organic unity and replaced the former colonial dependence upon
Europe, in the matter of commerce, by an extensive domestic trade
between the various sections. From these changes flowed important
political results. [Footnote: For the earlier phase of internal
improvements, cf. Babcock, Am. Nationality (Am. Nation, XIII.),
chap. xv.]
Many natural obstacles checked this process. The Appalachian
mountain system cut off the seaboard of the United States from the
interior. From the beginning, the Alleghenies profoundly influenced
the course of American history, and at one time even endangered the
permanency of the Union. In our own day the railroad has so reduced
the importance of these mountains that it is difficult for us to
realize the part which they once played in our development. Although
Webster boasted that there were no Alleghenies in his politics, we
have already seen [Footnote: See chaps, iii.
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