Congress and the Frontier: American Political Development, Space, and the Railroads.

Overcoming the problem of the frontier was a necessary precondition to any further state building during the 19th century. The focus of this paper is how the federal government became involved in aiding local internal improvements. Theoretically, this paper aims to place federalism and state rivalries into American political development debates. Specifically, this paper focuses on the role of frontier states in pushing for federal intervention. In addition, decentralized capacity building, as a parallel force to centralization, is developed to explain states' interest in federal action. Through this analysis, the impact of federal assistance on the development of the American frontier and sectional rivalries can be traced. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]