Books published by publisher ALADDIN BOOKS, NEW YORK

The National Road was not entirely man-made. Before white settlement began, buffalo were plentiful in the East. Year after year they followed the same route in search of fresh pastures and salt-licks. Where the buffalo went, the Indians followed; and from the Indians the white men learned of this fairly easy way from the Atlantic seaboard to the country beyond the Alleghenies. This route became the National Road. The Road had loyal friends and sworn enemies. From the beginning, lawmakers from Georgia and the Carolinas bitterly opposed it. They wanted to keep their own people at home, and they foresaw that the rise of states in the new western country would upset the balance of power in the national government. In human affairs, nothing is more exciting than an idea at work. The Road promised solid advantages - easier travel, faster mail, access to rich land, a vast market for the manufactures of the Ease. But these were never as important as the idea the Road sprang from, and served. In spite of all obstacles, the country was to be one country! (from the Introduction)