The document summarizes the transportation revolution in the early-to-mid 19th century United States, including new modes of travel like steamboats and railroads that significantly reduced shipping times and costs. Steamboats, pioneered by Robert Fulton, began operating on major rivers in the early 1800s. Railroads then started developing in the 1830s and saw rapid expansion, growing to over 30,000 miles of track by 1860 and transforming shipping across the country. Key innovations like the Tom Thumb train helped drive growing adoption of the new technologies.