During the first half of the 19th century, improvements in transportation developed quite rapidly. Roads, steamboats, canals, and railroads all had a positive effect on the American economy. They also envisioned a more diversified United States by allowing more products to be sold in new parts of the country and opening new markets. Copied from ideas pioneered in England and France, American roads were built everywhere. In an attempt to make money, private investors have financed many highways, hoping to profit from the tolls collected. Although they did not bring in as much money as expected, these routes made cheaper (but not cheap) domestic transportation of goods possible. It costs even more to transport a ton of freight a few miles overland than it does to send it across the Atlantic Ocean. But thanks to highways, for the first time, goods could cross the formidable Appalachian Mountains. The steamboat was the first economical means of inland transportation. It was faster and cheaper than the rafts used before them. Additionally, steamboats provided navigation up the Mississippi, allowing farmers and loggers to raft down and return home in the luxurious comfort of a steamboat after selling their wares. This also made the Northwest less dependent on itself, as it was now able to purchase the South's products. As steamboats boosted the economy on the western frontier, canals became increasingly popular on the e...