Roads are used by people every day. You probably traveled on a road to get to
school today. Can you think of some reasons why roads are important? Can you imagine
what it would be like to have no roads?
Two hundred years ago there were few roads in the new nation of the United States.
People used horses and wagons to travel, but without roads they had to go very
slowly. Without roads mountains were very hard to cross.
Americans wanted the country to grow. They wanted people to be able to move beyond
the mountains and live in the land to the west. Merchants whose job was
commerce had to travel to do business. Roads were needed for all these
people. In 1806, President Thomas Jefferson signed an act allowing a road to be
built from Cumberland, Maryland, into Ohio. This road was called the Cumberland
Road or the National Road.
The National Road was the first, and only, highway paid for by the U.S. government.
It was a road that would help many people in their travels west. It would also
help connect areas of the growing United States. People often left the National
Road to continue their journey via rivers.
Thought Questions:
1. Why would politicians want a road that connects east and west?
Why would farmers want the same road?
Research:
Pay close attention to how these people helped create early paths, trails,
and roads: