Why a continental power still needs a navy

Americans could plausibly ask why a resource-rich continental state needed a large navy. Railways promised to bind the interior together, and much of what the country required existed within its borders. That reasoning ignored foreign powers' ability to dominate the coast and the volume of goods that overland infrastructure could not carry. Ships remained essential for commerce and access to the wider world. Mahan turned this practical case into an argument for naval investment, even though later interpretations often diverged from what he wrote.