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1、/-Unit1PresentingaSpeechRoadBuildingGoodmorning,everyone.TodayI'llbetalkingabouttherelationshipbetweenroadbuildingandthedevelopmentoftheAmericaneconomyduringthe18thcentury.About300yearsago,theUnitedStates'economywasgrowingrapidly,mainlybecauseofaboomingtradeintwoimportantagriculturalproducts:
2、grainandcotton.GrainoutputintheeasternpartofAmericaincreasedquicklyatthattimeduetotherapidlygrowingpopulationandthelargenumberofimmigrantsfromEurope.Asaresult,thedemandforgrainalmostdoubled.Forthisreason,thetradeingrainfirstdevelopedinthispartofthecountry.Atthesametime,theroadsystemwasgradual
3、lybuiltupinordertotransportthegrainfromtheruralareastovariouscities.Theroadbuildingclearlyhelpeddeveloptheeconomyquicklyintheseareasandinthecitiesaswell.Duringthesameperiod,farmersintheSouthcouldgetalargeamountoflaborersfromAfrica,andtheystartedtogrowcotton.Asthecottonoutputincreased,thefarme
4、rsneededtosellitinotherplaces.Asaresult,manyroadswerebuilttolinktheruralareastothecities.Atfirst,thistradeofgrainandcottontookplacealongthecoast,ornearriversandlakes.Ittookplacetherebecauseitwaseasyandcheaptotransportgoodsfromoneplacetoanother.Before1700,itwasveryexpensivetomovethegoodsbyroad
5、.So,farmershadtorelymainlyonriverstomovetheircropstomarkets.Atthattime,therewasonlyonecontinuousroadthatexistedintheUS.Itranfromnorthtosouthalongcountryroads,whichwerelinkedtogethertomakeonelongroad.Withinashorttime,thefirsteast-to-westroadswerebuilt.Theywerecalledturnpikes.Privatecompaniesbu
6、ilttheseroadsandcollectedfeesfromallvehiclesthattraveledonthem.Eventually,becauseoftheboomingtradeofgrainandcotton,anetworkofroadwayswascompletedthatconnectedsomemajorcitiesandtowns.Althoughtravelingwasstillcostlyforfarmers,theysoonpreferredtomovetheircropstocitiesandotherareasonroadwaysrathe
7、rthanbyboatbecauseitwasfasterandmoreconvenient.SoherewecanseearatherclearpictureofroadbuildingintheUnitedStatesanditsimpactoneconomicdevelopmentduringthatperiod.TheMississippiRiverinAmericaGoodafternoon.Todaywe’regoingtotalkabouttheMississipp