How Did Steam Engines Change People's Lives

The late 19th Century was a revolutionizing period in American History evident by the Industrial Revolution and the Civil War. However, it was the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad which profoundly changed the United States. The discovery of gold, the acquisition of Mexican territories and the continued settlement of the West increased the need for a primary railway system connecting the East and the West Coasts.

The economy of England during the 18th century was one that needed rebuilding after many years of war with other countries. A breakthrough of new technology and ideas boosted the economy, creating a time known commonly as the Industrial Revolution. Specifically, there was one invention that defined the Industrial Revolution. The steam engine, a device powered by coal used to run machines at an efficient rate, was developed during the Industrial Revolution. The invention of the steam engine had a major effect on the economy of England during the Industrial Revolution through its use in mining, transportation, and factories.

People strongly believe steam boats had a positive outcome to our world. Steam boats were invented during the industrial revolution and are still being used till this very day. The invention of steam boats has been highly successful not just for the economy but society as well. Profits and travel has rapidly increased ever since the steam boat was created during the industrial revolution. Manpower was no longer needed to be used and steam was officially the source to success by powering the engine of the steam boat. Steamboats are one of the most popular boats to this very day and is an astonishing way of transportation of goods and people. Steam boats were definitely a positive impact to the world, and had made a gigantic profit to communities and businesses.

The idea of using steam as a force to power machinery was not new during the seventeen hundreds; it had already been mentioned by ancient Greek scholars. It was scientist such as James watt that refined that idea to create the steam engine (Live science, 2012). The concept is simple, water is heated by coal and the resulting steam acts as a driving force for the machines, similar to how the rivers flow powered the mills (Live science, 2012). Water power meant that factories were limited to certain locations, however steam powered factories could did not have such constraint (Live science, 2012). The steam engine expanded industries all over Britain. First, it improved the coal industry by pumping water out of coal mines, making it safe from flooding (Live science, 2012). Secondly, the

“Before the building of the Transcontinental Railroad, it cost nearly $1,000 dollars to travel across the country. After the railroad was completed, the price dropped to $150 dollars.”(History.com Staff). Prior to the railroad the average citizen of America could not afford to travel across the country cheaply. America waited for a means of transportation which would connect them from the Western to Eastern states. The responsibility of creating the railroads were left up to construction companies. Once this invention was created, traveling became quick, easy and affordable. The Transcontinental Railroad could be defined as the most significant change in America, during the 19th Century.

The 1800’s were a period of technological rapid growth and change for America. The Industrial Revolution was in full force, and new advances were made in substantial numbers. One of these breakthroughs was the steam engine powered locomotive, which was first used in 1830. Railroads were built all over the east coast and encouraged travel and commerce among cities east of the Missouri River. By 1850, there were almost 9,000 miles of railroad tracks on the east coast, but very little on the west coast. In 1862, Abraham Lincoln passed the Pacific Railroad Act, which permitted the Central Pacific and Union Pacific railroads to begin building the transcontinental railroad. The Central Pacific Railroad would begin building in Sacramento, and the

Nineteenth century America was a time of rapid growth and expansion. The movement of settlers further and further west accompanied by technological advances led to the major growth of cities and industries across the American frontier. However, it was the major innovations of transportation that had the most significant impact on the expansion of Midwestern and western America. The construction of canals and roads led to the increase in the use of stagecoaches, steamboats, and ultimately railroads.

This engine was quickly put into use and took power of many things. With this new invention it promoted breakthroughs in many industries, one being the iron industry. (McKay p.690) The invention of the steam engine had a huge impact on many things. One important impact it had was the advancement of the industrial revolution.

The first successful steam engine locomotive was built by the British Engineer George Stephenson, which could haul up to 30 tons of coal at 4mph going uphill. Later, Stephenson also created the first public railway for

The hypothesis that I plan to test is the impact that the steam engine, which sparked the Industrial Revolution, had on long-term economic growth in England. I choose the steam engine because it was an invention that led to the rise of the factory system and it was also an invention that impacted the Industrial Revolution greatly as well. It is also been argued by economists that the steam engine had a negative impact on the economic growth in England. A possible factor that I will consider to why England saw economic growth with adopting the steam engine compared to other countries is because of the patent system that was in place. Another possible factor that I will explore is what affect it had on the coal industry since I believed that

In addition with the invention of the steam engine came the steam locomotive. As the development of steam engines progressed through the 18th century, various attempts were made to apply them to road and railway us. In 1812 Matthew Murray was the first to build a successful steam locomotive, and it hauled 27 carts of around 95 tonnes at 3 mph. Accompanied with this came Richard Trevithick’s 40 psi steam locomotive, The Penydarren Locomotive, “the world's first ever railway journey that ran 9 miles from the ironworks at Penydarren to the Merthyr-Cardiff Canal, South Wales.” This creation lead to many more innovations, which will lead to speedy land travel for goods and products.

Through the centuries, steam was found to be useful and in 1698 Thomas Savery patented and built the first ever steam engine. (Encyclopædia Britannica 2009; Hawley, 2012) The steam engine has been adapted to modern days as steam power was expensive and time consuming to service. Boiler rebuild were required and they constantly needed to be cleaned. It was expensive and kept these engines out of service for a large portion of time. (Feldman, 2014,) Today, 95 per cent of nuclear power plants use steam engines to generate power. Electricity is

Transportation was improved. New forms of transportation included steam power, improved roads, railroads, bridges, canals and ships. These new improved mean of transportation allowed people to travel cross country and to ship goods to new markets in a matter of days as opposed to months. The railroads eventually became the nation’s number one transportation system, and remained so until the construction of the interstate highway halfway during the Twentieth century. The late 19th century belonged to the railroads. They were of crucial importance in stimulating economic expansion (American History).

"The wonderful progress of the present century is, in a very great degree, due to the invention and improvement of the steam engine, and to the ingenious application of its power to kinds of work that formerly taxed the physical energies of the human race."~Robert H. Thurston

It’s common knowledge that the world as we know it today was forged in the factories of industrial revolution era. The factories during this era themselves was powered by steam engine. But where did the steam engine came from? Who invented this revolutionary invention? The answer to the question: the steam engine was not invented nor developed by solely one person but by contribution of multiple people throughout the time.