During the first half of the 19th century, improvements in transportation developed quite rapidly. Roads, steamboats, canals, and railroads all had a positive effect on the American economy. They also made the United States more diverse by allowing more products to be sold in new areas of the country and opening up new markets. Copied from ideas originating in England and France, American roads were being built everywhere. In an effort to make money, private investors financed many highways, expecting to profit from the tolls collected. Although they did not earn as much as expected, these roads made cheaper (not cheap) domestic transportation of goods possible. It cost even more to transport a ton of goods a few miles overland than to ship it across the Atlantic Ocean. But thanks to the highways, for the first time, goods were able to cross the formidable Appalachian Mountains. The steamboat was the first economical means of internal transportation. It was faster and cheaper than the rafts used before them. Additionally, steamboats made it possible to travel up the Mississippi, allowing farmers and loggers to raft down and return home in the luxurious comfort of a steamboat after selling their goods. This also made the Northwest less independent because it was now able to purchase the South's goods. While steamboats stimulated the economy on the western frontier, canals became increasingly popular on the and...