Make a report about the contribution of rivers in economic development,trade and transportation surrounding you.
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Answer:Historically, societies have always located near water, due partly to the fact that water enables more efficient travel compared to going over land. Waterways are critically important to the transportation of people and goods throughout the world. The complex network of connections between coastal ports, inland ports, rail, air, and truck routes forms a foundation of material economic wealth worldwide.
Within the United States, waterways have been developed and integrated into a world-class transportation system that has been instrumental in the country's economic development. Today, there are more than 17,700 kilometers of commercially important navigation channels in the lower 48 states.
Early History of Water-based Transportation
The historical development of water-based transportation is connected to the importance of domestic and international trade. Early exploration of North America identified large amounts of natural resources such as fisheries, timber, and furs. Trade centers were established along the east coast of North America where goods could be gathered together and ocean vessels could transport them to consumers in Europe and other foreign areas. The success of commercial trading companies spurred the introduction of
Waterways in developing countries are critical avenues for local and regional commerce. Fruit and vegetable vendors flock to floating markets on rivers and canals, such as this one in Bangkok, Thailand.
Waterways in developing countries are critical avenues for local and regional commerce. Fruit and vegetable vendors flock to floating markets on rivers and canals, such as this one in Bangkok, Thailand.
more colonial settlements that in turn resulted in additional increases in population, economic activity, and trade.
From the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, small subsistence farms were prevalent among the American colonies. Eventually larger farms emerged and produced crops such as wheat, tobacco, rice, indigo, and cotton that were commercially marketable in Europe. Ocean vessels transported the bulk, low-value goods from the colonies to Europe and returned with high-value, low-density goods such as inks, linens, and finished products that had a much higher return on the investment per vessel trip.
Agricultural production continued to grow and support the growing colonies' economic development. The speed and low cost of transporting goods by water influenced the locations of population settlements near navigable water (rivers, lakes, canals, and oceans). Goods produced on inland farms were transported via inland waterways to the coastal ports. Goods shipped by smaller vessels from surrounding ports were transported to New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, and exported on larger oceangoing ships. These ships from the smaller ports then transported imported goods back to the surrounding ports.
During the 1700s, the British government passed many acts, such as the Navigation Acts and the Stamp Act of 1765, designed to collect taxes from the colonists. The acts affected trade, and were met with opposition from the colonist. In Philadelphia during the fall of 1774, the "Declarations and Resolves of the First Continental Congress" called for non-importation of British goods, and became a catalyst for the American Revolutionary War (1775–1784). The resulting independence for the United States allowed trade a free rein, and it flourished.
Westward Expansion.
The westward expansion of the United States exposed a wealth of natural resources and an increased production in agricultural goods. The inland transportation infrastructure of roads, railroads, canals, and rivers connected the early western settlers with the rest of the nation, and enabled goods to move from the west back to more populated areas in the east and onto other parts of the world. The River and Harbor (Appropriations) Act of 1876 established federal funding of waterways to promote national commerce but not to benefit any particular state nor to allow waterway tolls.
Twentieth and Twenty-First Centuries
Increased levels of world trade resulted from the economic growth occurring since the end of World War II in 1945. The United States was in the position to take advantage of new trading opportunities as new world markets opened. Developing countries demanded capital goods, agricultural products, consumer goods, and commercial services, which the United States could provide. As these nations produced goods for export, the United States became a market for these goods.
A significant factor in the opening of the inland waterway system (and the resultant world trade superiority of the United States) was the advances in ship technology and the application of steam power to ships that traveled the extensive water network. Larger and faster ships emerged from the advances in ship and engine design and improvements .
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