Economy, Community and Law : The Turnpike Movement in New York, 1797-1845

Turnpikes promised a solution to the problem of bad roads, but private management of highways was a startling innovation. some people opposed the idea of turnpikes as exemplifying two betes noires of the post-Revolutionary period, the private corporation and aristrocracy. Much of the controversy, however, was rooted in local disputes over legislative concessions to turnpike protesters. The legislature both expressed and responed to turnpike protest by writing laws favorable to local users and injurious to the financial viability of the companies. Partly in consequence, the turnpikes were unprofitable. Landowners, merchants, and farmers struggle to finance turnpikes, not so much in hopes of company dividends but in hopes of improved transportation, stimulated commerce, and higher land values. Many turnpike projects failed to be constructed, and those that were constructed carried on in a condition that reflected their precarious financial state