|
6
and maintenance to be a county duty. It was not until 1774 that a
comprehensive colony-Vide system of roads was begun, particularly due
to sectional demands that Western Shore road appropriations be matched
on the Eastern Shore. Even private turnpike companies were under no
compulsion to build with any over-all plan in mind. Maintenance was
rudimentary at best and non-existent in some seasons. 8
The Potomac was an attractive alternative to those speculators
who wished to improve transportation to interior areas, even if there
were little commerce to be had with inland areas. The Potomac's location
was non-negotiable; to some degree it was self-maintaining; it was by
far the shortest route to the waters of the Ohio from any part of the
Atlantic coast; it was central to the thirteen colonies; and it was
adjacent to the most powerful colony, Virginia. 9 Furthermore, the
Potomac provided an access route to colonial Virginia's extensive western
land claims.
8Charles Elbert Fisher III, "Internal Improvement Issues in
Maryland, 1816-1826" (Master's thesis, University of Maryland, 1972),
p. 33; William Kilty, ed., The Laws of Maryland to which are Prefixed the
Original Charter with an n English Translation, the Bill of Rights and
onstitution o the State, as Originally Adopted by the Convention with
e Several Alterations y Acts o the Assembly, the eclaration o
n epen ence, the Articles of Confederation, the Constitution of the
General Government, an the men ments made T ereto, with an Index to
t„e Laws, the Bill of Rights and the Constitution Annapolis: Frederick
,reen, printer o the State, , arc Session 1774, chapter 21,
unpaged; Clayton Colman Hall, ed., Baltimore: Its History and Its
People (New York: Lewis Historical Publishing Company, 9 , p. 451.
e~apter four for details about sectionalism in Maryland.
9George Washington estimated the distances from Detroit to various
eastern cities as follows: Alexandria--607 miles, Richmond--840 miles,
Philadelphia--741 miles, Albany--783 miles, New York City--943 miles,
Montreal--775 miles. John c. Fitzpatrick, ed., The Diaries of George
Washington, 1784-1799 (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1925 , vol. 2,
pp. ' - ; Walter . Sanderlin, The Great National Project: A History
of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, Johns Hopkins Studies in Historical and
Political Science, series , number 1 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press,
1946), p. 18.
|
