Opening the West: Federal Internal Improvements Before 1860

(Hardback)

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Following Frederick Jackson Turner's lead, most economic historians assume the West and its people were shaped by economic determinism. This study proposes a different path. The federal government, Malone claims, opened the frontier before waves of settlers arrived by constructing a network of roads and making improvements to rivers and harbors. The book begins by analyzing federal transportation expenditures from 1800 to 1860 and then moves on to look at early federal improvement programs and their effects on determining the direction of settlement in the New West. Settlement in the New West statesArkansas, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesotaaccelerated after the government's projects were constructed. The tracking of internal improvement expenditures in sparsely settled regions shows the federal government had a significant role in initiating growth prior to the more widely acknowledged railroad developments after mid-century.

Reviews

"Clearly written, this book will appeal to academics interested in the historical relationship between public and private investment in promoting economic development in the 19th century America. Upper-division undergrauduate and up."-Choice
"The inventive argument and impressive evidence shed new light on the settlement of the West before the Civil War."-Robert L. Heilbroner Norman Thomas Professor of Economics Emeritus New School for Social Research
Clearly written, this book will appeal to academics interested in the historical relationship between public and private investment in promoting economic development in the 19th century America. Upper-division undergrauduate and up.-Choice
Malone does not do a convincing job of demonstrating that the federal government played an important role in making basic road investments in the territorial perids in each state.-EH.NET BOOK REVIEW
Malone's work is full of intense statistical work presented in an interesting way-JOW
"Malone does not do a convincing job of demonstrating that the federal government played an important role in making basic road investments in the territorial perids in each state."-EH.NET BOOK REVIEW
"Malone's work is full of intense statistical work presented in an interesting way"-JOW

Author Bio

LAURENCE J. MALONE is Department Chair and Associate Professor of Economics at Hartwick College. He is coeditor, with Robert L. Heilbroner, of The Essential Adam Smith (1986).