The document discusses how transportation changed during the Industrial Revolution in the United States. New inventions like steamboats and railroads made transportation of goods and people faster and cheaper. Canals were built to connect waterways, cutting shipping costs. By the 1850s over 9,000 miles of railroads had been laid, connecting cities in the East and allowing raw materials and manufactured goods to be transported easily around the country. These transportation improvements fueled the growth of manufacturing across the United States.