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Quiz about Antebellum Transportation Revolution
Quiz about Antebellum Transportation Revolution

Antebellum Transportation Revolution Quiz


As the new century began, the nation's transportation network underwent major changes, linking the states together like they never had been before. What was this Transportation Revolution?

A multiple-choice quiz by obiwan04. Estimated time: 4 mins.
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Author
obiwan04
Time
4 mins
Type
Multiple Choice
Quiz #
352,264
Updated
Dec 03 21
# Qns
10
Difficulty
Average
Avg Score
7 / 10
Plays
438
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Question 1 of 10
1. The first phase of the Transportation Revolution began in the 1790's when private companies began building new roads and charging shippers and travelers to use them. What were these roads called? Hint


Question 2 of 10
2. Some road builders experimented with surfacing, trying to improve the usual dirt surface. For example, logs were used by placing them together across the roadbed. What was this kind of road called? Hint


Question 3 of 10
3. The next phase of the Transportation Revolution was the steamboat phase. Who was the inventor usually given credit for demonstrating that steam engines could propel boats on rivers? Hint


Question 4 of 10
4. The steamboating craze really got underway in 1811 when a steamboat made a successful journey from Pittsburg to New Orleans by using the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers. What was the name of this boat? Hint


Question 5 of 10
5. The steamboat's great advantages over previous riverboats were speed and the ability to carry cargo and passengers upstream. Upstream freight costs were reduced to one tenth of what they had been prior to the steamboat's debut. Who was the steamboat designer who invented the "wedding cake" design that we now associate with the steamboat? Hint


Question 6 of 10
6. But what if you did not live on a river? No problem. Enterprising Americans in the 1810's simply began to dig ditches to connect to the rivers. They called them canals. The most famous of them was the Erie Canal that, when it was finished in 1825, connected Lake Erie to which river? Hint


Question 7 of 10
7. One problem with canal-building was that fly-by-night canal companies often defrauded cities and states or lacked the engineering knowhow to build canals. What was the most cited problem with canals that did not work very well? Hint


Question 8 of 10
8. In the 1820's the most spectacular phase of the Transportation Revolution was the railroad. Which nation is usually given the credit for developing the first practical railroad? Hint


Question 9 of 10
9. In 1828 the first successful railroad was built in the United States, connecting the city of Baltimore with the state of? Hint


Question 10 of 10
10. Railroads were not always welcomed as a sign of progress. As the railroad age began, what was a complaint about the trains? Hint



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Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts
1. The first phase of the Transportation Revolution began in the 1790's when private companies began building new roads and charging shippers and travelers to use them. What were these roads called?

Answer: turnpikes

The turnpike got its name from being a toll road with a long pole (pike) attached to a hinge and projecting across the road at the entry point. The toll keeper, once the toll had been received, turned the pike out of the way to allow the traveler to proceed on the toll road.
2. Some road builders experimented with surfacing, trying to improve the usual dirt surface. For example, logs were used by placing them together across the roadbed. What was this kind of road called?

Answer: corduroy road

Hang on to your seat, because you are in for a rough ride on the corduroy road! Imagine how jolting the ride would be! Another problem with corduroy roads was that termites loved them, as well as other insects, and rain and snow caused the roads to rot.
3. The next phase of the Transportation Revolution was the steamboat phase. Who was the inventor usually given credit for demonstrating that steam engines could propel boats on rivers?

Answer: Robert Fulton

Fulton's Clermont in 1807 chugged up and down the Hudson River, proving the practicality of the steamboat.
4. The steamboating craze really got underway in 1811 when a steamboat made a successful journey from Pittsburg to New Orleans by using the Ohio and the Mississippi rivers. What was the name of this boat?

Answer: New Orleans

Not only did the New Orleans make the trip but it survived the earthquake that struck the Mississippi River near New Madrid, Illinois. Eyewitnesses reported horrifying accounts of the ground buckling, trees being uprooted, and the river briefly reversing its course!
5. The steamboat's great advantages over previous riverboats were speed and the ability to carry cargo and passengers upstream. Upstream freight costs were reduced to one tenth of what they had been prior to the steamboat's debut. Who was the steamboat designer who invented the "wedding cake" design that we now associate with the steamboat?

Answer: Henry Shreve

Shreve, after whom Shreveport, Louisiana, is named, vastly improved steamboat design. His tiered boat with steampowered paddles either on the sides or at the stern not only provided a boat with power but one with a relatively shallow draft that could be used on small rivers. Meanwhile, the decks above the cargo hold allowed passengers to cruise the rivers in style.
6. But what if you did not live on a river? No problem. Enterprising Americans in the 1810's simply began to dig ditches to connect to the rivers. They called them canals. The most famous of them was the Erie Canal that, when it was finished in 1825, connected Lake Erie to which river?

Answer: Hudson

With public funds and private investments, the state of New York built this engineering miracle from 1817 to 1825. It was not the first American canal, but it certainly had the greatest impact. Other states and cities began to build canals to try to catch up to or outdo New York. By the 1840's the nation had over 3,000 miles of canals.
7. One problem with canal-building was that fly-by-night canal companies often defrauded cities and states or lacked the engineering knowhow to build canals. What was the most cited problem with canals that did not work very well?

Answer: not enough water to float canal boats

Several canals were so poorly designed that the water was too shallow to float much of anything, much less a canal packet boat.
8. In the 1820's the most spectacular phase of the Transportation Revolution was the railroad. Which nation is usually given the credit for developing the first practical railroad?

Answer: Great Britain

The British by the early 1820's were not only laying railroad track but were developing faster and more powerful locomotives to haul freight and a growing number of passengers.
9. In 1828 the first successful railroad was built in the United States, connecting the city of Baltimore with the state of?

Answer: Ohio

The Baltimore and Ohio was its name, and it launched the railroad craze. By 1860, the United States had over 30,000 miles of railroad lines.
10. Railroads were not always welcomed as a sign of progress. As the railroad age began, what was a complaint about the trains?

Answer: all of these

All these complaints greeted the railroad's arrival, and, ironically, the automobile's debut in the 1890's would be met with many complaints as well.
Source: Author obiwan04

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