increasing numbers and the construction of canals was
practically abandoned. Before 1840 over 2,800 miles of track were laid
and by 1850 the mileage amounted to 9,000. The decade from 1850 to 1860
was a period of extensive railway construction, especially in the
Northern Central States, where more than 10,000 miles were built. Early
in the decade the trunk lines of the Eastern States were pushed across
the mountains and through railway connection was established between
the Mississippi Valley and the Atlantic Ocean. New York was connected
with Chicago by a direct rail route in 1853, and with St. Louis in
1855, and in 1858 a railroad reached the Missouri River. In the South,
roads were built into the interior from all the important cities on the
Atlantic and Gulf coasts. In 1860 there was a total of 30,626 miles of
railroad in the entire country.

With the growth of population and wealth, the diversification of
industry and the development of canals and railroads, there was a great
increase in internal commerce. The trade of this period consisted of a
few well-defined currents flowing between certain sections. A large
volume of products, mainly agricultural, went from the Central States
to the East, and a traffic of less volume but of greater value moved in
the reverse direction. There was a heavy internal movement from the
Northern to the Southern States and a light movement from the South to
the North. Aside from these movements, there was an over-land trade by
pack-horse and wagon with the Far West which became of particular
importance after the discovery of gold. For the sake of greater
clearness, these different currents of trade will be considered
separately in the order named.

1. TRADE BETWEEN THE EASTERN AND CENTRAL STATES

One of the notable features of the internal commerce following 1830 was
the rise of the trade on the Great Lakes. After the opening of the Erie
Canal there was a large migration to the lands around the lakes; in a
few years thousands of acres of land were cleared and put under
cultivation; the center of cereal production shifted westward; and
hundreds of shiploads of grain were borne over the lakes toward eastern
markets. Ohio was the first state west of New York to ship grain over
the lakes. By 1835, Indiana and Michigan were sending grain eastward
over Lake Erie; in 1836 the first shipment from Lake Michigan was
recorded; in 1838 a shipment of 78 bushels of wheat from Chicago marked
t