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Article: Transportation And Travel
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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TRANSPORTATION AND TRAVEL
TRANSPORTATION AND TRAVEL.
Travel in the United States for most of its history was arduous. Nineteenth-century transportation systems, notably the railroad, improved travel between and within cities, but most Americans could go only as far as their horses could carry them. The vast country remained largely inaccessible to all but the most intrepid pioneer or explorer.
The United States was transformed in the twentieth century into the most mobile society in human history. Americans traveled far more often and covered many
more miles during the twentieth century compared not only to their ancestors but also to their contemporaries in other countries. The ...