Summary Of Give Me Liberty

Dan Lawler
Fall – 2015 Eric Foner, the author of our textbook, “Give Me Liberty!” calls the Industrial Revolution, urbanization and accompanying economic expansion of American society in the early nineteenth century a “market revolution”. There are many significant changes and developments that make up this revolution, a few of them being the creation of canals, steamboats, roads and the cotton gin. Foner also describes how the revolution affected differently the north and the south. In the south, they were focused on agriculture. They were reliant on the production of cotton and required many slaves to make that happen. The north on the other hand, was more focused on industrialization and urbanization. They were building roads, canals,

In the text he describes the revolution as an “acceleration of developments already under way in the colonial era” (Foner 320). One of the first major developments was the creation of roads. They were the first major advance in transportation over land. According to the author, between 1800 and 1830 in New England and the Middle Atlantic states, more than 900 companies were told to start building new roads. This would definitely prove useful for trading making it easier for traders to move up and down the coast as well as move more western past the Appalachians. The creation of roads would also make it easier for settlers that want to move western to find new lands. The first major highway was built during this time in 1806. It was given the name National Road, and extended from Cumberland Rhode Island, all the way to Illinois where it ends. Along with these roads, came tollgates. Residents found way around these by the creation of “shunpikes”. These were detours that allowed people to avoid the tolls and go around them. Due to this, the tolls were barely able to make a profit. An even better form of transportation that increased the speed and lowered the expense of