295. National Roads
Steamboats were now running on the Great Lakes and on all the important rivers of the West . The first result of this new mode of transport was the separation of the West from the East . Steamboats could carry passengers and goods up and down the Mississippi and its branches more cheaply and more comfortably than people and goods could be carried over the Aleghanies . Many persons therefore advised the building of a good wagon road to connect the Potomac with the Ohio . The eastern end of ths great road was at Cumber - land on the Potomac in Maryland . It is gen - erally called , therefore , the Cumberland Road . It was begun at the national expense in 1811. By 1820 the road was built as far as Wheeling on the Ohio River . From that point steamboats could steam to Pittsburg , Cincinnati , St . Louis , or New Orleans . Later on , the road was built farther west , as far as Illinois . Then the coming of the railroad made further building unneces - sary .
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