Railroads were born in England, a country of dense population, short distances, and large financial resources. In England problems were very different from those in America, which in the early 1800s was a nation of great distances, sparse population, and limited capital. Americans had to learn to build railroads for their own country by actual experience; they could not copy English methods. The first American railroads started from the Atlantic ports of Boston, Mass.; New York City; Philadelphia, Pa.; Wilmington, Del.; Baltimore, Md.; Charleston, S.C.; and Savannah, Ga. Within 20 years four rail lines had crossed the Alleghenies to reach their goal on the "Western Waters" of the Great Lakes