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products to be exported, but rather that American projects had no inland
urban backing. American projects did not even enjoy a well-established
inland agricultural base until after the Revolution. Most English river
improvement projects had urban support at both ends of the project
or at least from the inland end. They also had support from agricultural
interests which had existed for centuries. 2 This is significant in that
American internal improvements gambled on what might evolve in either the
fur trade or inland settlement. While Americans looked to England for
ideas and partial funding, unlike English promoters, they could not
expect much financial aid from the interior. The few inhabitants on the
American frontier helped these projects to whatever extent they could,
but their support simply was not enough to offset the large expenses
involved.
American internal improvement projects originating in the mid-
Atlantic area also faced major problems in raising capital because even
coastal townsin the Chesapeake Bay region remained small until well into
the eighteenth century. Tobacco, the area's first staple export, required
no regional centers of specialization such as those associated with pro-
ducts of more northern colonies. What little handling tobacco needed
could be accomplished on each plantation before the tobacco was exported
from the plantation wharf to England. Town growth also was hindered by
speculative habit of planters who acquired large tracts of land along
waterways in anticipation of soil depletion. With few urban areas
2For information on river improvements in England see: William
T. Jackman, The Development of Transportation in Modern England (London:
Frank Cass and Co., Ltd., 1962 ; and T. S. Willan, River Navigation in
England 1600-1750 (New York: Augustus M. Kelley, Publisher, 1964 .
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