Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
1824 The Erie Canal opens. Begun in 1817, the 365-mile-long waterway connects Albany and
the Hudson River to Buffalo and the Great Lakes. Economical boat transportation is now possible
between New York City and the Midwest, greatly stimulating the growth and development of both
New York and the midwestern cities on the Great Lakes.
1825 The first practical railroad service begins in London as British engineer George Stephenson's
Locomotion Number 1 makes its first trip.
1830 Publication of Principles of Geology by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell (1797-1875), a re-
volutionary approach to concepts of the earth's formation. Lyell laid out the notion that the earth's
natural features were the result of a long, continual process, an idea first developed by James Hutton
(1726-97) and called uniformitarianism. These ideas upset the prevailing notion that major changes
in the geological structure of the earth were the result of abrupt, violent changes (or catastrophes),
an idea known as catastrophism.
1831-36 Voyage of HMS Beagle, a British surveying ship on which Charles Darwin (1809-82)
served as naturalist. During this five-year trip, Darwin begins to formulate his revolutionary theory
of natural selection and its role in evolution.
1837 British scientists Charles Wheatstone and W. F. Cooke patent the first electric telegraph, and
it is soon used on English railroads and in mapping to determine longitude. In 1838, American sci-
entist—and painter—Samuel F. B. Morse (1791-1872) takes out an American patent for his version
of the electric telegraph and the Morse code, both developed with the assistance of physicist Joseph
Henry (whom Morse later refused to acknowledge), who was also the inventor of the first practical
electric motor (in 1831).
1842-48 John Charles Frémont (1813-90) makes expeditions into the American West with the le-
gendary mountain man Kit Carson (1809-68) as guide. An American soldier, adventurer, and ex-
plorer known as “the Pathfinder,” Frémont established reliable overland routes to the West and was
the high priest of American expansionism. He openly provoked the war with Mexico and served in
it. Although he was court-martialed for treason, he was pardoned by President Polk.
1848 The Map of Oregon and Upper California , by Frémont and cartographer Charles Preuss,
provides a detailed and scientifically accurate map of the American West, spurring a great rush of
settlers into the western lands.
1848-49 The California Gold Rush brings tens of thousands of new settlers to the West, both over-
land using the Frémont-Preuss maps and by sea. After California was taken from Mexico and gained
admission to the Union in 1850, Frémont became a senator from the state, then ran as the first Re-
publican presidential candidate (losing to Democrat James Buchanan). He fought for the Union in
the Civil War, but was fired by Lincoln. He briefly ran against Lincoln in 1864. A great popular
hero, Frémont ended up bankrupt after the failure of a fraudulent railroad scheme.
1848 The Illinois-Michigan Canal opens, linking the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River.
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