Deck 8: Transportation, Internal Improvements, and Urbanization

Question 1

The early U.S.canals and railroads were built by private enterprise without the aid of governments.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Productivity,or output per labor hour,rises as transportation costs fall.

Answer 2

True

Question 3

Private initiative and financing were most important in

A) the canal system of transportation.
B) the steamboat system.
C) the railroad system.
D) none of the transportation systems.

Answer 3

the steamboat system.

Question 4

Which transportation industry did government invest most heavily in before 1860?

A) Turnpikes
B) Canals
C) River steamboats
D) Railroads

Question 5

As the transportation system developed in the U.S.,urbanization occurred.

Question 6

Which of the following is not a valid criticism of Fogel's (1964)methodology in his study of railroads?

A) The canal prices used for 1890 were low.
B) The impact of railroads on financial markets is ignored.
C) The nonpecuniary gains from using railroads could have been considered.
D) The amount of land cultivated would have been reduced.

Question 7

Most canals were economic failures.

Question 8

The benefits of urbanization include: crime,pollution,increased taxation and congestion.

Question 9

The Gallatin Plan (1808)was not passed because some individuals questioned its constitutionality.

Question 10

Contrary to many researchers' views,Hurst (1969)claims the government needed private investors ?to fund internal improvements.

Question 11

Commercialization,market growth and factories emerged in rural areas.

Question 12

During the antebellum period,factories grew,in part,due to internal economies of scale.

Question 13

Railroad competition was the primary cause of canal failures.

Question 14

Railroads attracted funds from foreign investors.

Question 15

Roads during the 1800s proved to be a preferred transportation alternative to railroads and thus competed successfully for profits.

Question 16

Internal improvements are important to a developing and growing economy.

Question 17

Railroads had advantages over canals in all respects except

A) year-around service.
B) speed of delivery.
C) full access to shipping points.
D) there is no "except"; all of the above were advantages of railroads.

Question 18

According to Fishlow's (1972)work,the U.S.railroads before the Civil War were typically built "ahead of demand" by private capital.

Question 19

The percentage of the population that lived in urban areas rose from approximately 5% in 1790?to 40% in 1860.

Question 20

Which of the following statements is supported by the research of economic historians?

A) Canals and railroads were built with a mixture of private and public enterprise and ?financing.
B) Canals and railroads were built largely without U.S. government participation.
C) Canals were built with public assistance, but railroads were built with almost no ?government assistance.
D) Railroads were built with public assistance, but canals were built by private enterprise.

Question 21

The Gallatin Plan (1808)to provide internal land and water transport in the eastern part of the ?country was a plan that

A) called for the federal government to finance and build the transport system.
B) called for the eastern states to join together to finance and build the system.
C) called for private financing and building with some federal government assistance?in coordinating and planning the transport system.
D) relied primarily on city and county governments to provide the bulk of the financing and ?building of the transport system.

Question 22

Government participation in railroad construction was highest in

A) New England.
B) the South.
C) the Midwest.
D) the Great Lakes Region.

Question 23

"External economies" derive from all of the following except

A) the joint use of transportation facilities.
B) labor force concentrations in urban areas.
C) social overhead facilities such as police and fire protection.
D) economies of management associated with large firms.

Question 24

The growth of cities was due to the existence of important scale economies,which include all of the following except

A) Central water and sewer systems
B) Education systems
C) Crime, congestion and pollution
D) Police and fire protection

Question 25

In general,when were transportation and communications costs significant barriers to developing an integrated internal market system in the U.S.? Why did these costs vary between North and South? Between East and West? What broke down these barriers?

Question 26

The efficiency of steamboats was commonly measured by

A) the carrying capacity of the steamboat fleet in terms of tonnage.
B) per unit labor costs per vessel.
C) the tonnage per vessel transported upstream.
D) the actual tonnage transported up and downstream each day.

Question 27

Historians are in general agreement that

A) railroads opened the country and were built at great risk ahead of demand, gambling on the future.
B) railroads sharply cut down transportation costs, linking the country together in all directions ?and spurring the nation's growth far in advance of anything that might otherwise have been achieved.
C) railroads were the single innovation of the 19th century that created a great leap forward ?in terms of American economic growth.
D) none of the above are true.

Question 28

Which statement best describes the railroad?

A) It is a good example of "technology transfer" (from England to the U.S.)-the first operating railroad was in England.
B) It is an American home product-the first operating railroad was in the U.S.
C) It was invented in England but first put into operation in the U.S.
D) It was invented in the U.S. but first put into operation in England.

Question 29

The Gallatin Plan (1808)

A) was a plan by the U.S. Senate for a comprehensive system of internal land and water transport?in the eastern part of the country to be built by the federal government.
B) was promoted on the basis that only the federal government could command sufficient resources to build a transportation system.
C) was partially implemented but not completed by the federal government because of concerns about the constitutionality of such federal action.
D) was characterized by all of the above.

Question 30

Business cycles can be described best as

A) being pervasive during the antebellum period but their effects were isolated to the private sector.
B) being pervasive during the antebellum period but their effects were isolated to the public sector.
C) being pervasive during the antebellum period and their effects were felt both in the private and public sectors.
D) uncommon during the antebellum period but their effects were felt significantly when present.

Question 31

Funding for canals came from which of the following sources?

A) Private investments and tolls
B) Taxes
C) Borrowing on government credit
D) All of the above

Question 32

Why do historians argue that there was a mixture of enterprise,partly private and partly governmental,in building our transportation system?

A) Private individuals took the initiative and were able to extract special privileges and financial assistance from government for the purpose of enhancing their profits.
B) Political leaders, who wanted transportation improvement for reasons of local or national ambition, took the initiative and coaxed private enterprise into building the transportation ?system by the offer of special financial advantages.
C) The sheer size of the investment required for a transportation system was beyond the capability of private enterprise alone.
D) All of the above ideas have been used by historians to explain the mixture of enterprise in building our transportation system.

Question 33

During the great canal-building era,from roughly 1815 to 1843,Hughes and Cain (2011)claim that

A) most canals earned normal profits.
B) no canals earned profits.
C) all canals in the initial period of construction earned normal profits but none did in the later period because of over-construction and competition from the railroads.
D) the Erie Canal was one of the few, perhaps the only one, to earn normal profits.

Question 34

Robert Fogel (1964)demonstrates that

A) the social saving of the railroad was large; much of the country (over 25%) could not have ?been settled and cultivated without the railroad.
B) the canal and river systems of transportation could very nearly have produced the same ?results as the railroad in terms of land cultivated.
C) the railroad was responsible for a great "take-off" in terms of economic growth in the ?19th century.
D) the railroad gave a huge boost to the iron industry because for a time it consumed well ?over 50% of all iron produced.

Question 35

"Internal economies" derive from all of the following except

A) Division of labor
B) Production of standardized products
C) The use of mass production techniques
D) There is no "except"; all of the above apply

Question 36

Historians generally agree that the railroads

A) were absolutely essential for industrial growth in the 19th century.
B) were an indispensable "leading sector."
C) were our first "giant" enterprises.
D) provided a "social saving" of 90% or more.

Question 37

What advantages did the railroad have over the other means of transportation during the pre-Civil War era? Why has modern scholarship deflated the importance of the railroads' role in U.S.history?

Question 38

Which of the following contributed to the increase in steamboat productivity?

A) Improvements in ship design
B) Better docking stations
C) Increased competition by railroads
D) All of the above

Question 39

Discuss the changes in the distribution system (how goods get from the locus of production to the locus of consumption)of the antebellum American economy.

Question 40

The turnpikes built in the early 1800s were

A) intercity toll roads.
B) highly profitable enterprises.
C) financed entirely by private enterprise.
D) regulated by the federal government.

Question 41

Interpret the economic importance of Figures 8-1 and 8-2.Identify the advantages and disadvantages of the canal and railroad systems of transportation.Discuss the economic debate over the railroad system's contribution to economic growth.

Question 42

Why did the U.S.transportation systems and urban areas attract many human and material resources away from agriculture?

Question 43

Identify and describe the traits of U.S.urbanization during the antebellum period.

Question 44

Why were immigrants attracted to urban areas?

Question 45

Discuss the positive and negative externalities of urbanization.

Question 46

Explain why productivity may rise when railroads,turnpikes,canals and roads help decrease transportation costs.Discuss the roles of specialization and operating on the basis of comparative advantage in a world of low transportation and transactions costs.

Question 47

How was the development of the canal and railroad systems in the U.S.funded? Discuss the economic pros and cons of these funding resources.

Question 48

Discuss the roles that improvements and investments in the different kinds of transport,specifically turnpikes,canals,riverboats,ocean transport and railroads,played in the growth of the American West's economy.Cite the work of noted economic historians.

Question 49

Compare and contrast external and internal economies.Explain the links of both to urbanization.

Question 50

What is a business cycle? Discuss whether business cycle swings and turning points had any link ?to developments in (i)canals and (ii)railroads.

Question 51

Analyze the role that improvements and investment in transportation played in the rise of interregional trade in the U.S.,especially with respect to the West.Discuss specific changes ?in water and overland transportation methods.