Report of the Secretary of the Treasury, on the Subject of Public Roads and Canals

FIRST EDITION. This celebrated report represents the first major government plan for systematic internal improvements to promote American industry and agriculture. The report includes a letter from Robert Fulton on canals (pp. 102-23), and a letter by Benjamin Henry Latrobe on railroads, the earliest printed call for building railroads in the U.S. Gallatin called for the federal government to build a system of canals along the Atlantic seaboard and to establish communication between the Atlantic, the midwestern rivers, and the Great Lakes.

"The historic Gallatin Report . . . defined a concept of internal improvement which, in its broad terms has remained up to modern times a virtual statement of national policy" (The District . .. Army Corps of Engineers 1866-1971). Gallatin believed the improvements could be made for $20 million and the debt paid within 20 years. The proposed indebtedness would have been unprecedented, and many including Jefferson believed the plan was unconstitutional. The War of 1812 interfered with the implementation of the plans, but Gallatin's vision has been realized as a centerpiece of American economic development. Shaw and Shoemaker 16589