A new perspective on the transformation of the early American republic into a modern industrial nation When the people of British North America threw off their colonial bonds, they sought more than freedom from bad government: most of the founding generation also desired the freedom to create and enjoy good, popular, responsive government. This book traces the central issue on which early Americans pinned their hopes for positive government action - internal improvement. The nation's early republican governments undertook a wide range of internal improvement projects meant to assure Americans' security, prosperity, and enlightenment - from the building of roads, canals, and bridges to the establishment of universities and libraries. But competitive struggles eventually undermined the interstate and interregional cooperation required, and the public soured on the internal improvement movement.

About the Author
John Lauritz Larson, professor of history at Purdue University, is coeditor of the Journal of the Early Republic and author of the award-winning Bonds of Enterprise: John Murray Forbes and Western Development in America's Railway Age.


Book Information
ISBN 9780807849118
Author John Lauritz Larson
Format Paperback
Page Count 352
Imprint The University of North Carolina Press
Publisher The University of North Carolina Press
Weight(grams) 467g