The General Survey Act was a law passed by the United States Congress in April 1824, which authorized the president to have surveys made of routes for transport roads and canals "of national importance, in a commercial or military point of view, or necessary for the transportation of public mail." While such infrastructure of national scope had been discussed and shown wanting for years, its passage shortly followed the landmark

US Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all Federal tribunals in the United States, U.S. federal court cases, and over Stat ...

ruling, ''

Gibbons v. Ogden ''Gibbons v. Ogden'', 22 U.S. (9 Wheat.) 1 (1824), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States which held that the power to regulate interstate commerce, which is granted to the US Congress by the Commerce Clause of the US ...

'', which first established federal authority over interstate commerce, including navigation by river. The US president assigned responsibility for the surveys to the Corps of Engineers (USACE).Improving Transportation
,

USACE The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) is the military engineering branch of the United States Army. A direct reporting unit (DRU), it has three primary mission areas: #The Engineer Regiment, Engineer Regiment, military constr ...

Of the federally appropriated funds for surveys roads and canals of national importance, President

James Monroe James Monroe ( ; April 28, 1758July 4, 1831) was an American Founding Father of the United States, Founding Father who served as the fifth president of the United States from 1817 to 1825. He was the last Founding Father to serve as presiden ...

allocated one third of the sum to surveying a military highway connecting

Detroit Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, with

Fort Dearborn Fort Dearborn was a United States fort, first built in 1803 beside the Chicago River, in what is now Chicago, Illinois. It was constructed by U.S. troops under Captain John Whistler and named in honor of Henry Dearborn, then United States Secre ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. Commerce and the mail soon traveled much faster on what was called the Chicago Road. In a separate piece of legislation passed a month later that is often called the first

Rivers and Harbors Act Rivers and Harbors Act may refer to one of many pieces of legislation and appropriations passed by the United States Congress since the first such legislation in 1824. At that time Congress appropriated $75,000 to improve navigation on the Ohio an ...

, Congress also appropriated $75,000 to improve navigation on the

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and

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

rivers by removing sandbars, snags, and other obstacles. This work also was given to the Corps of Engineers, the only formally trained body of engineers in the new republic.

Later developments

With passage of the General Survey Act, Congress empowered the military to chart transportation improvements vital to the nation's military protection or commercial growth. Army engineers helped design state and private roads, canals, and railroads, and soldiers cleared forests and laid roadbeds; the work was conducted under the direction of the

executive branch The executive branch is the part of government which executes or enforces the law. Function The scope of executive power varies greatly depending on the political context in which it emerges, and it can change over time in a given country. In ...

. While the Act was initially seeded with an appropriation of $30,000, from 1824 to 1837, a total of $425,000 was provided to the Corps, with few restrictions, to undertake surveys and plan

internal improvements Internal improvements is the term used historically in the United States for public works from the end of the American Revolution through much of the 19th century, mainly for the creation of a transportation infrastructure: roads, turnpikes, can ...

. Although the act does not explicitly authorize it, much of the activity supported river and harbor projects, which the Corps planned and undertook, and surveys of roads and canals, and later railroads. Between 1824 and 1837, the Corps made 120 surveys and assisted or constructed 90 projects.Forest Hill, ''Roads, Rails, and Waterways: Army Engineers and Early Transportation'', (Norman, OK: Oklahoma University Press, 1957), referenced in Stephen Minicucci,
Internal Improvements and the Union, 1790–1860
',

Studies in American Political Development Studies in American Political Development (SAPD) is a political science academic journal, journal founded in 1986 and presently published by Cambridge University Press. It is the flagship journal of the American political development (APD) subfiel ...

(2004), 18: p.160-185, (2004), Cambridge University Press, {{doi, 10.1017/S0898588X04000094 Over the years, more appropriations were made; and the system of roads and canals developed in other areas. The passage of the acts and the Corps' work on the various interior transportation systems were vital foundations for economic development and westward expansion of the country in the 19th century.Army Corps of Engineers, U.S.
Water Encyclopedia - Science and Issues

References

1824 in American law United States federal transportation legislation