{"product_id":"breaking-the-appalachian-barrier-9781476670447","title":"Breaking the Appalachian Barrier","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\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":51040424493399,"sku":"9781476670447","price":27.54,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9781476670447.jpg?v=1750946705","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/breaking-the-appalachian-barrier-9781476670447","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}