“Or not. That’s why Ohio insisted on the Federal government agreeing to build the road as a condition for them to join the Union. And even if the “east coast bankers” were willing to float bonds with tolls to finance such a project, this would have put Ohio and every other future frontier (at the time) state at a disadvantage against their Atlantic seaboard counterparts.”
More nonsense. The only reason the politicians step in is (a) not ‘cause something wouldn’t get done, but (b) the politicians want in on the credit, and (c) the bankers and crony-capitalists are flattering the politicians with the myth that “they are needed” to (d) save their own profits and (e) get the taxpayers to take all the risk. Without that whole charade, if it wasn’t done, then most likely it wasn’t needed after all or some real capitalists would see the reward and take all the reward by doing it themselves.
Dude ... that all took place in 1806, not 2006.