The American Nation A History of the United States, Combined Volume (14th Edition)

240 Chapter 8 Toward a National Economy

weeks while a skipper waited for additional cargo.
Now merchants on both sides of the Atlantic could
count on the Black Ball packets to move their goods
between Liverpool and New York on schedule
whether or not the transporting vessel had a full
cargo. This improvement brought much new busi-
ness to the port. In the same year New York enacted
an auction law requiring that imported goods
placed on the block could not be withdrawn if a bid

satisfactory to the seller was not forthcoming. This,

too, was a boon to businessmen, who could be

assured that if they outbid the competition, the

goods would be theirs.

Now the canal cemented New York’s position as

the national metropolis. Most European-manufactured

goods destined for the Mississippi Valley entered

the country at New York and passed on to the West

over the canal. The success of the Erie also sparked a

ATLANTIC

OCEAN

Gulf of Mexico

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or

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ich

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Boston

Portland

Utica

Buffalo

Rochester

Erie

Cleveland

Toledo

Detroit

Sault Ste. Marie

Portsmouth

Pittsburgh

Kingston

Binghamton

Albany

Providence

New Haven

New York

Philadelphia

Harrisburg

Johnstown

Hagerstown

Winchester

Easton

Baltimore

Washington

Cincinnati

Indianapolis

South Bend

Fort Wayne

Dayton Columbus

Louisville

Evansville

Chicago

St. Louis

New Madrid

Little Rock

Natchez

New Orleans

Mobile

Pensacola

Montgomery

Columbus

Nashville

Memphis Chattanooga

Knoxville

Harrodsburg

Atlanta

Macon

Augusta

Columbia

Jackson

Franklin

Green Bay

Galena

Fort Snelling

Savannah

St. Augustine

Charleston

Wilmington

Fayetteville

Norfolk

Richmond

Lynchburg

Staunton

Lexington

Terre Haute

Roads

Canals

MD.

CONN.

DELAWARE

GEORGIA

ALABAMA

CANADA

MAINE

MASS.

VT.

MISSOURI

ILLINOIS INDIANA

WISCONSIN

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FLORIDA

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JERSEY

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SOUTH

CAROLINA

NORTH CAROLINA

VIRGINIA

KENTUCKY

TENNESSEE

MICHIGAN

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WA

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Canals and Roads, 1820–1850Historians who doubt that a “market revolution” had created a national economic system point to the

inadequacy of the thin transportation “system” depicted.