Upon America's 250th anniversary comes the story of a new republic forging unity through ambition and action, inspired by George Washington's youthful dream to build the nation's first highway west
The National Road is the first narrative history of the federal project--begun decades before the nation itself was born and ranging through the 1830s--that connected the United States across the Alleghenies and into the western frontier. Starting with a young Washington's dream of uniting the Potomac and Ohio Rivers, historian Brady J. Crytzer traces the political rivalries and engineering marvels that created an artery bringing settlers, ideas, and commerce deep into the American interior.
Washington scouted the western frontier as a surveyor and championed a route to unite the fledgling republic. Albert Gallatin, America's longest-serving treasury secretary, battled political opposition to fund the project. Thomas Jefferson, torn between his agrarian ideals and the demands of a growing nation, ultimately championed the road as a means of securing western lands and extending democratic reach. And Henry Clay harnessed the road to advance his bold American System.
With visionaries, rebels, and everyday families seeking the American dream, and featuring congressional showdowns and backroom deals to mountain crossings and frontier towns, The National Road reveals the triumphs and tragedies of an infrastructure saga that helped define the United States.
"Mr. Crytzer's narrative hums along with the National Road's traffic . . . as migrants wend westward, fueling the nation's economic and territorial growth. He vividly captures the culture that sprang up along the road--taverns, trade, folklore, and industry--while paying fitting tribute to commerce as the glue of national unity."
--Wall Street Journal
"America's first great national project. . . . A fine reminder that a revolution first united our nation, but roads kept it united."
-- Kirkus Reviews
"Brady Crytzer's scholarship and storytelling skills have restored the National Road's significance for the early American republic and for our own time. Through his engaging portraits of George Washington, Albert Gallatin, and Henry Clay, he captures key debates over the federal government's role in infrastructure and the National Road's crucial role in America's westward expansion."
-- David L. Preston, The Citadel, Guggenheim-Lehrman Prize-winning author of Braddock's Defeat: The Battle of the Monongahela and the Road to Revolution
Brady J. Crytzer is a historian of the American frontier and the award-winning author of The Whiskey Rebellion, Guyasuta and the Fall of Indian America, and Hessians: Mercenaries, Rebels, and t he War for British North America. His writing has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, and the Journal of the American Revolution. He is the host of the acclaimed podcast Dispatches, and he appears regularly on the cable series Into the Wild Frontier and Outlaws and Lawmen, as well as Fox Nation's new series, Blood On The Bridge: The Battle of Lexington & Concord. He teaches at Robert Morris University.