{"product_id":"breaking-the-appalachian-barrier-maryland-as-the-gateway-to-ohio-and-the-west-1750-1850","title":"Breaking the Appalachian Barrier","description":"\u003cp\u003e   In 1750 the Appalachian Mountains were a formidable barrier between the British colonies in the east and French territory in the west, passable only on foot or horseback. It took more than a century to break the mountain barrier and open the west to settlement.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e   In 1751 a private Virginia company pioneered a road from Maryland to Ohio, challenging the French and Indians for the Ohio country. Several wars stalled the road, which did not start in earnest until after Ohio became a state in 1803. The stone-paved Cumberland Road--from Cumberland, Maryland, to Wheeling, Virginia--was complete by 1818 and over the next 30 years was traversed by Conestoga wagons and stagecoaches. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad--the first general purpose railroad in the world--started in Baltimore in the 1820s and reached Wheeling by 1852, uniting east and west.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"McFarland \u0026 Co Inc","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":39415680008275,"sku":"9781476670447","price":36.5,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781476670447_b2b62c39-07d0-4bcc-a563-7187fbc94a7e.jpg?v=1764508538","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/breaking-the-appalachian-barrier-maryland-as-the-gateway-to-ohio-and-the-west-1750-1850","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}