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Transportation Railroads
By the end of the 19th century, railroads had changed transportation and travel in American. People were traveling swiftly across the continent on steam locomotives. The west was rapidly settled, with growing businesses, industries, and farmers taking advantage of the railroads to ship their products to cities back east. New railroad tracks were laid connecting all parts of the country in a giant web of rails. Trains became even faster, safer, and better at moving people and goods with the invention of diesel engines. Automobiles
The beginning of the 20th century brought many new ideas and improvements in transportation. Automobiles greatly changed the daily lives of Americans. The automobile had been invented in the 1800's, but cars were not dependable or practical until the early 1900's. At the turn of the century only the wealthiest families bought automobiles. With Henry Ford's invention of the Model T, in 1908, automobiles became affordable for many Americans. This vehicle was reliable and reasonable priced. Until the invention of the Model T, automobiles were made one at a time by builders who would put together the parts individually for each vehicle. In 1913, Ford was able to mass-produce his cars in a factory in Michigan by making them all alike. He set up assembly lines with many workers making lots of cars at one time. Each worker worked on only one part of the automobile, as the car moved down a beltway in a line. The parts were interchangeable, which made all of the automobiles the same. This efficient method of production made Ford the largest automobile manufacturer in the world. The assembly line revolutionized manufacturing and helped make the United States a great industrial nation. With the introduction of the Model T, Americans could go almost anywhere without depending on railroads, or horse drawn vehicles. Whether traveling long distances or just running errands, automobiles became the popular means of transportation. Cars and trucks soon became bigger, faster, and more dependable. Airplanes
Brothers, Orville and Wilbur Wright, flew the world's first powered airplane at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina in December of 1903. This was also the first successful flight carrying a person. The plane flew for only 12 seconds and went only one hundred and 20 feet. Within five years, the Wright brothers were making aircraft that could stay in the air for an hour and a half. Today jet engines instead of propellers power airplanes. They travel thousands of miles at speeds of over 600 miles per hour. Huge airplanes carry hundreds of passengers at one time to destinations throughout the world. Still more wonders await us in the 21st century. Rocket ships travel to space stations far out in space. Tourists will someday be able visit these stations and plan vacations for destinations in outer space.
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