An experiment in republicanism -- Designs of the monied gentry -- Toward a national republican alternative -- The problems with state initiatives -- The "progress" of consolidation -- Spoiling internal improvements -- State initiatives again -- Into the railway age -- Designs of a new monied gentry
Summary
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
