, vi., above.] that in
the twenties they exercised a dominant influence on the lines of
internal commerce, and compelled the pioneer farmers to ship their
surplus down the Mississippi to New Orleans and around the coast,
and thence abroad and to the cities of the north. The difficult and
expensive process of wagoning goods from Philadelphia and Baltimore
across the mountains to the Ohio Valley raised the price of
manufactured goods to the western farmer; while, on the other hand,
the cost of transportation for his crops left him little profit and
reduced the value of his lands. [Footnote: Journ. of Polit. Econ.,
VIII., 36-41.]
Under these circumstances, it was inevitable that the natural
opportunities furnished by the water system of the Great Lakes and
the widely ramifying tributaries of the Mississippi should appeal to
statesmen who considered the short distances that intervened between
these navigable waters and the rivers that sought the Atlantic.
Turnpikes and canals had already shown themselves practicable and
profitable in England, so a natural effort arose to use them in aid
of that movement for connecting east and west by ties of interest
which Washington had so much at heart.
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