History of Transportation

The history of the world is largely the history of movement. We speak of ancient cultures as though they were immobile, often forgetting that the greatest empires were often comprised primarily of displaced peoples. Genghis Khan uprooted entire populations and put them elsewhere in order to encourage homogeneity within his realm. How did he get them from place to place?

In the age of Learjets and bullet trains, the invention of the wheel seems distant and almost inconsequential. Riding horses is a little more immediate (oddly) because people still do that, but unless you're Amish or Mennonite Brethren living in the eastern United States, carts, wagons and buggies are mere images flickering against the faded screen of the past.

Still, the wheel is one of the building blocks of civilization. Things like wagons, trains, and cars would never have been developed without the wheel, and by extension we probably wouldn't have airplanes either. Boats and ships are a slightly different story, but the technology that allowed early civilizations to put to sea is as foundational as that used to make wheels.

Man has always been fascinated with movement of all kinds, not least the modes of conveyance used to get people and things around. It's important for Christians to remember that God's will is ultimately what allows advances in transportation technology, which (rather than ending the discussion) is the best reason to study it in the first place. To that end, we offer a variety of resources covering a variety of vehicles and inventions.

Review by C. Hollis Crossman
C. Hollis Crossman used to be a child. Now he's a husband and father who loves church, good food, and weird stuff. He might be a mythical creature, but he's definitely not a centaur. Read more of his reviews here.
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106 Items found Print
Active Filters: 7th grade (Ages 12-13)
19th Century Railway Station
by Fiona MacDonald & John James
from Peter Bedrick Books
for 4th-8th grade
in History of Railroads (Location: HISA-19TRR)
Across America on an Emigrant Train
by Jim Murphy and Robert Louis Stevenson
from Sandpiper Books
for 5th-8th grade
1994 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award
in Immigration & Emigration (Location: HISA-20IM)
$10.95
All About Sailing the Seven Seas
All About Books #40
by Ruth Brindze
from Random House
for 4th-7th grade
in All About Books (Location: VIN-ALL)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Amelia Earhart
Lives to Remember
by Burke Davis
from G.P. Putnam's Sons
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in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Amelia Earhart - Coloring Book
by Muriel Earhart Morrissey
from Bellerophon Books
for 3rd-7th grade
in Biographies (Location: BIO)
Arts of the Sailor
by Hervey Garrett Smith
Reprint from Dover Publications
for 5th-Adult
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$6.00 (1 in stock)
Avion My Uncle Flew
by Cyrus Fisher, illustrated by Richard Floethe
from Purple House Press
for 5th-7th grade
1947 Newbery Honor Book
in Action & Adventure Stories (Location: FIC-ADV)
$11.86
Barbary Pirates
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by C. S. Forester, illustrated by Charles J. Mazoujian
from Random House
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in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Battle of Lake Erie, September 10, 1813
by James P. Barry
from Franklin Watts
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in War of 1812 (Location: HISA-19WET)
Boy Who Sailed Around the World Alone
from Golden Press
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Bridle for Pegasus
by Katherine B. Shippen, illustrated by C. B. Falls
from Viking Press
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Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad
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by Adele Nathan, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Random House
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in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Building of the First Transcontinental Railroad
Spencer Press Landmark #9 (RH#9)
by Adele Nathan, illustrated by Edward A. Wilson
from Spencer Press
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Captain Cook Explores the South Seas
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by Armstrong Sperry
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Captain Edward L. Beach: Around the World Under Water
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Charles A. Lindbergh
by James Cross Giblin
from Clarion Books
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1998 NCTE Orbis Pictus Honor Book
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Chuck Yeager Breaks the Sound Barrier
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Clipper Ship Days
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Commodore Perry in Japan
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from American Heritage Publishing Co.
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Coolies
by Yin, illustrated by Chris Soentpiet
from Puffin Books
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in History of Railroads (Location: HISA-19TRR)
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Design Line: Planes, Trains, and Automobiles
by Chris Oxlade, Edited by Jenny Broom, Illustrated by Mike Lemanski
from Candlewick Press
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in Oversized Science Books (Location: SCI-OVER)
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Discovery of the Titanic
by Robert Ballard
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Drake: The Man They Called a Pirate
by Jean Lee Latham
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Draw 50 Boats, Ships, Trucks, and Trains
by Lee Ames
from Watson-Guptill Publications
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$9.99
Early Days of Automobiles
Landmark #68
by Elizabeth Janeway, illustrated by Hertha Depper
from Random House
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Early Oregon Days
by Edwin D. Culp
1St Edition from Caxton Press
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Ferdinand Magellan
World Landmark #31
by Seymour Gates Pond, illustrated by Jack Coggins
from Random House
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Fighter Planes
by Mairi MacKinnon
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Flying Aces of World War I
World Landmark #60
by Gene Gurney, illustrated with photographs
from Random House
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Footprints of the Dragon
Land of the Free Series
by Vanya Oakes, illustrated by Tyrus Wong
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Gasoline Buggy of the Duryea Brothers
by Robert B. Jackson
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Getting There
by Suzanne Hilton
from Westminster Press
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$8.50 (1 in stock)
Golden Age of Railroads
Landmark #93
by Stewart H. Holbrook, illustrated by Ernest Richardson
from Random House
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in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Golden Age of Sail
by Amy Handy
from Todtri Productions Limited
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Great Trains of All Time
by Freeman Hubbard; illustrated by Herb Mott
from Grosset & Dunlap
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Hear that Train Whistle Blow!
by Milton Meltzer
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History of Pirates
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Illustrated History of Ships and Boats
by Lionel Casson
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Indestructible Commodore Matthew Perry
by Arthur Orrmont
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Iron Horses Across America
Perspectives on History Series
by Jeanne Munn Bracken
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Ironclads of the Civil War
by Frank R. Donovan
from American Heritage Publishing Co.
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John Paul Jones, Fighting Sailor
Landmark #39
by Armstrong Sperry
from Random House
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Keystone Battlewagon - U.S.S. Pennsylvania (BB-38)
Warship Series #2
by Myron J. Smith
1st edition
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Lighthouses
by Arthur Smith
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Lighthouses of America
by Mina Lewiton, Illustrated by Howard Simon
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$12.50 (1 in stock)
Lost at Sea
by Ronald Pearsall
from Smithmark Publishers
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Man of the Monitor
by Jean Lee Latham
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Marooned
by Robert Kraske; illustrated by Robert Andrew Parker
from Clarion Books
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Mayflower II
from Plimoth Plantation Publication
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$4.00 (1 in stock)
Melville in the South Pacific
North Star Books #22
by Henry Beetle Hough
from Houghton Mifflin
for 6th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Men-of-War
by Patrick O'Brian
1st Us Edition from W. W. Norton and Co.
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in 20th & 21st Century Literature (Location: LIT7-20)
$3.00 (2 in stock)
Midway: Battle for the Pacific
Landmark #119
by Edmund Castillo
from Random House
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Monitor and the Merrimac
Landmark #16
by Fletcher Pratt, illustrated by John O'Hara Cosgrove II
from Random House
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in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Mysterious Voyage of Captain Kidd
Landmark #122
by A.B.C. Whipple
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Mysterious Voyage of Captain Kidd
Landmark #122
by A.B.C. Whipple
from Purple House Press
for 5th-9th grade
in Pirates (Location: HISV-PIRATE)
$14.99
Naval Warfare
Civil War Chronicles
by John C. Wideman
from MetroBooks
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in American Civil War Era (1850-1865) (Location: HISA-19CW)
$7.00 (1 in stock)
Nelson and the Age of Fighting Sail
by Oliver Warner
from Harper & Row
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Old Ironsides: The Fighting Constitution
Landmark #51
by Harry Hansen, illustrated by Walter Buehr
from Random House
for 5th-8th grade
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On the Shores of the Great Sea
Story of the World Series #1
by M. B. Synge
from Yesterday's Classics
History Reference for 4th-8th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$13.95 $8.00 (2 in stock)
On the Shores of the Great Sea
Story of the World Series #1
by M. B. Synge
from Living Book Press
History Reference for 4th-8th grade
in History Spines & Surveys (Location: HISRF-SPINE)
$9.99
Oregon's Iron Dream
by Mary Goodall
from Binford & Mort Publishing
for 6th-10th grade
in History of Railroads (Location: HISA-19TRR)
Orville Wright
Heroes of History
by Geoff & Janet Benge
from Emerald Books
Biography for 4th-7th grade
in Heroes of History (Location: BIO-BENGE)
$10.19
Pirate Ship: 1660-1730
by Angus Konstam, illustrated by Tony Bryan
from Osprey Publishing
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Pirates
by Nigel Cawthorne
from Chartwell Books
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Race to the Golden Spike
North Star Books #27
by Paul I. Wellman
from Houghton Mifflin
for 6th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Railroad
Inventions That Shaped the World
by John Matthews
from Franklin Watts
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in History of Railroads (Location: HISA-19TRR)
$4.00 (1 in stock)
Railroads in the Days of Steam
by Albert L McCready
from Troll Associates
for 6th-10th grade
in American Heritage Junior Library (Location: VIN-HIS)
Robert Fulton and the Steamboat
Landmark #45
by Ralph Nading Hill, illustrated by Lee Ames
from Random House
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in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Sailing the Seven Seas
North Star Books #4
by Mary Ellen Chase
from Houghton Mifflin
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in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Salt-Water Men
Canadian Inheritance Series #1
by Joseph Schull
from Inheritance Publications
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in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$12.95
San Francisco Bay
by John Haskell Kemble
from Cornell Maritime Press
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in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
San Francisco Bay
by John Haskell Kemble
1978 Reissue from Bonanza Books
for 7th-12th grade
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Sea Clocks: The Story of Longitude
by Louise Borden
1st edition from Margaret K. McElderry Books
for 4th-8th grade
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$10.00 (1 in stock)
Seabees of World War II
Landmark #103
by Edmund Castillo, foreword by Admiral Ben Moreell, CEC, USN, illustrated with photographs
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Ships Visual Encyclopedia
by David Ross
from Amber Books
for 3rd-Adult
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
Ships, Sailors and the Sea
Usborne Beginner's Knowledge
by Caroline Young, J. Miles
from Usborne
for 3rd-7th grade
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
Spanish Armada
by Jay Williams
from Harper & Row
for 4th-8th grade
in Horizon Caravel Books (Location: VIN-HOR)
Spanish Armada
by C. Hodges
from Coward McCann
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Square Sails and Spice Islands
by Laura Long, illustrated by C. B. Falls
from Longmans, Green & Co.
for 6th-10th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Steamboat South
by Madye Lee Chastain
from E.M. Hale and Company
for 4th-8th grade
in Nautical History (Location: VIN-NAUT)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Amelia Earhart
Signature Books #33
by Adele de Leeuw, illustrated by Harry Beckhoff
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Buffalo Bill
Signature Books #1
by Edmund Collier, illustrated by Nicholas Eggenhofer
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 5th-9th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Captain Cook
by John Lang
from Living Book Press
for 6th-8th grade
in History Shapers (Location: BIO-SHAPE)
$5.94
Story of Flight
by Mary Lee Settle
from Random House
for 4th-7th grade
in Step Up Books (Location: VIN-STEP)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Story of Flight
by Clayton Knight
for 4th-8th grade
in Vintage History & Biographies (Location: VIN-HIS)
Story of Sir Francis Drake
by Oliver Elton
from Living Book Press
for 4th-8th grade
in History Shapers (Location: BIO-SHAPE)
$5.94
Story of Stephen Decatur
Grosset & Dunlap Signature #29
by Iris Vinton, illustrated by Graham Kaye
from Grosset & Dunlap
Biography for 3rd-8th grade
in Grosset & Dunlap Signature Books (Location: VIN-SIG)
Story of Submarines
Landmark #102
by George Weller, illustrated with photographs
from Random House
for 5th-9th grade
in American Landmark Books (Location: VIN-LAND)
Tall Ships of the World
by C. Keith Wilbur
from The Globe Pequot Press
for 4th-8th grade
in Ships, Boats & Submarines (Location: HISV-SHIP)
$5.00 (1 in stock)
Timechart History of Aviation
from Lowe & B. Hould Publishers
for 6th-Adult
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$9.00 (1 in stock)
Trail Blazer of the Seas
by Jean Lee Latham
from Houghton Mifflin
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in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Trail Blazer of the Seas
by Jean Lee Latham
from Purple House Press
for 5th-8th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
Twelve Seconds to the Moon
by Rosamond Young & Catharine Fitzgerald
2nd edition from Air Force Museum Foundation, Inc.
for 7th-Adult
in Aviation History (Location: HISV-AVIA)
$8.00 (1 in stock)
Twentieth Century Sea Power
for 7th-12th grade
in Clearance: History & Geography (Location: ZCLE-HIS)
$1.00 (1 in stock)
We Were There at the Battle of Britain
We Were There #24
by Clayton Knight & Katherine Sturges Knight
from Grosset & Dunlap
for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There at the Driving of the Golden Spike
We Were There #31
by David Shepherd, illustrated by William K. Plummer
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There at the Driving of the Golden Spike
by David Shepherd, William K. Plummer
Reprint from Dover Publications
for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$6.79
We Were There at the First Airplane Flight
We Were There #28
by Felix Sutton, illustrated by Lazlo Matulay
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
We Were There at the First Airplane Flight
by Felix Sutton, illustrated by Lazlo Matulay
Reprint from Dover Publications
for 5th-9th grade
in Historical Fiction (Location: FIC-HIF)
$5.94
We Were There with the Lafayette Escadrille
We Were There #33
by Clayton Knight & Katherine Sturges Knight
from Grosset & Dunlap
Historical Fiction for 5th-9th grade
in We Were There Series (Location: VIN-HIS)
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