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Did a little more research and found some interesting info.
Much of the reason for riding/driving on the left, originally, was due to practicality. First off, when you mount a horse, you do so from the left side. Most people are right handed, and it is easier to brace with your off side, and move with your dominant side. So, since you were already on the left side of the road, you would stay there. Also, this arrangement would keep one's sword arm free in case there was a need for defense while riding.
Also, there is much about the left side of the body that is considered unclean or unholy. In more religious regions, people would pass with their left side, their unclean side, furthest from others, thus traveling on the left. Some would go so far as to walk backwards past particularly religious sites so as to keep their right side closest as they passed.
During the Napoleonic era, there was some contention with the left-sided riding. First, much of the streets were narrow, and many of the riders were armed, often with muskets. While passing in a narrow street, such weapons would often collide, necessitating their disentanglement and holding up the lines. Also, Napoleon was left-handed, so passing on the right would give him an advantage should there be a need for melee weapon defense. So, while the English remained on the left, the French (and thus their conquests) were on the right.
During the colonization of America, there were people from quite a number of different nations, and the English and French were both represented quite heavily. When the US broke with England, it was decided that as a further act of defiance, we would pass on the right. Over half of the people already did that, although not in the New England area.
When Ford got his assembly line going, it necessitated the the steering wheel be in a fixed location, and that was on the left. Since the US was the sole or primary source for motor vehicles for a significant period of time, some countries that had previously driven on the left switched to accommodate how the cars were made.
At this point, about a third of the world still drives on the left side of the road, and at least in those places that do so partially for religious traditions, it is unlikely to change soon, if at all.
But my statement still stands. It doesn't matter that half of the nation already drove on the right, the US officially drives only on the right because we wanted to thumb our noses at England. Until that point, it could have gone either way.
The rest of the world does so often because the French made them, Napoleon being who he was, or to fit in more with US manufactured vehicles or customs.
^-.-^
Much of the reason for riding/driving on the left, originally, was due to practicality. First off, when you mount a horse, you do so from the left side. Most people are right handed, and it is easier to brace with your off side, and move with your dominant side. So, since you were already on the left side of the road, you would stay there. Also, this arrangement would keep one's sword arm free in case there was a need for defense while riding.
Also, there is much about the left side of the body that is considered unclean or unholy. In more religious regions, people would pass with their left side, their unclean side, furthest from others, thus traveling on the left. Some would go so far as to walk backwards past particularly religious sites so as to keep their right side closest as they passed.
During the Napoleonic era, there was some contention with the left-sided riding. First, much of the streets were narrow, and many of the riders were armed, often with muskets. While passing in a narrow street, such weapons would often collide, necessitating their disentanglement and holding up the lines. Also, Napoleon was left-handed, so passing on the right would give him an advantage should there be a need for melee weapon defense. So, while the English remained on the left, the French (and thus their conquests) were on the right.
During the colonization of America, there were people from quite a number of different nations, and the English and French were both represented quite heavily. When the US broke with England, it was decided that as a further act of defiance, we would pass on the right. Over half of the people already did that, although not in the New England area.
When Ford got his assembly line going, it necessitated the the steering wheel be in a fixed location, and that was on the left. Since the US was the sole or primary source for motor vehicles for a significant period of time, some countries that had previously driven on the left switched to accommodate how the cars were made.
At this point, about a third of the world still drives on the left side of the road, and at least in those places that do so partially for religious traditions, it is unlikely to change soon, if at all.
But my statement still stands. It doesn't matter that half of the nation already drove on the right, the US officially drives only on the right because we wanted to thumb our noses at England. Until that point, it could have gone either way.
The rest of the world does so often because the French made them, Napoleon being who he was, or to fit in more with US manufactured vehicles or customs.
^-.-^
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