The Steam Engine and the Civil War
Question: How did the Steam Engine influence the Civil War and America in itself?
Throughout the Civil War, there were many people and inventions that positively influenced The Civil War, but none other than the steam engine. The steam engine was one of the most influential inventions of the Civil War and America in itself. Before the Steam Engine trade was limited and the American economy was doing very poorly. The causes of this were the rules of trade and the inefficient transportation. At the time between the 1700 and 1800’s trade was only allowed during the Day and was transported by a Wagon and horse which took weeks to deliver. The Steam Engine not only revolutionized trade and
…show more content…
Paragraph V. The Influences of the Steam Engine
Topic Sentence- The Influence of the Steam Engine started with many things, such as the struggle with trade and the limited amounts of transportation.
1.One influence of the Steam Engine was better transportation and trading. With the Railroad and Train, trade was evolved and goods could be transported fresher and faster.(Savery,Thomas
47,48)
2. Another Influence of the Steam Engine was the lack of transportation. Before the Steam Engine transportation was limited to only a horse and carriage which moved very slowly. (Pursell, C.W.)
Conclusion-These influences of the steam engine helped make what America is today as a superpower and shaped our economy for the future.
Although there were many other important figures and inventions that positively influenced America and the Civil War, the Steam Engine is still one of the most important ones. The Steam Engine evolved trade and transportation forever from switching the standard choice of transportation from a Horse and Carriage to a Locomotive that was capable of carrying many people. It also changed the way trade was looked at by decreasing the amount of time goods and supplies took to reach their destination. The transcontinental Rail Road made it possible for trade to be delivered promptly and efficiently. With the Locomotive, various types of goods could be transported even goods that needed to be refrigerated. With the
One of the most important changes that the railroads caused was the increase of convenience
In conclusion, the invention of the steam train in the industrial revolution was beneficial for the world today because without them there would be a slower process in the delivery of goods and transport to long distances on land. Although both short term and long term effects were filled with negative and positives, the positives re more overpowering, therefor making the invention
Inventions like the iPhone have paved the road for social, economical, and political improvements. It allowed many opportunities for people to capitalize on whether it be economically like amazon, or socially like youtube as did the railroad that connected the states together. The transcontinental railroad most impacted America economically through encouraging imports and exports amongst the states, making transportation cheaper, and opening up cities along the railroad itself.
Not only were economics majorly revolutionized during this time period but transportation transformed as well. Before the invention of the steam engine, goods were hauled by horse drawn carriages and the journey was a long and difficult one. Robert Fulton was the first to build a steamboat successfully. This caused for a wave of change and soon goods were hauled across the Atlantic (“Industrial Revolution”) After the rapid success of the steamboat, soon steam locomotives began to take the spotlight. The steamboat and locomotive enabled Americans to travel to different parts of the country in less tie add connected the U.S in a way that it had never been before.
“The water-frame used the waterpower from fast-flowing streams to drive spinning wheels.” (course reader 102) Then there was the introduction of the steam engine and power-loom. Due to an expired patent, James Watt decided to create his version of the steam engine for use in a cotton mill plant and introduced a system for the factory that was revolutionary. As a result, wages and manufacturing of cotton and iron really increased. This helped get more work done in less time and gave people jobs. (Document 2) The steam engines also helped get the economy ramped up by being able to bring supplies to the cities and more jobs to people. The steam engines provided jobs because they needed miners, engineers, and sailors who could build the canals and railroads for this transportation. As a result, they could bring supplies to the cities which also increased farmland available to produce more food for everyone. (Document 3) The steam engine brought in railroad development, industrialization and changes to the population. (Document 9) With the growth of railways and transportation, from 1801-1851, many cities were developed within the central part of Great Britain and the population
The development of the railroads was the beginning of a new transport system in America, it connected the east and west, and the communication across the continent grew easier. With the railroads brought new life to deserted towns, people settled along the railways, it was faster for people to travel from one way to the next, it was cheaper, and it led to new industries in lead,coal, and
The steamboat was an invention that reduced manual labor aboard ships by a large extent, and were also faster than the previous sail ships. Not only were these good at transporting goods, they could also transport people via river and ocean quite effectively. Larger versions were produced for trans-oceanic voyages. The transcontinental railroad did the same thing, but faster, and on land. The refrigerator car was especially useful because you could pack meat in Chicago, and send it to California without it spoiling. This quick transportation of goods quickly renovated
During the Antebellum era there were a large number of advancements in transportation technology, such as railroads being placed all over the United States. There was also the building of numerous bridges and canals, and the development of the steamboat. During the pre-civil war period there was a huge expansion of railroads all over the country According to the web site quizlet, “From 1833 to 1850 the amount of railroad tracks increased from 136 miles to 9,000 miles” (http://quizlet.com). The first steam engine was built in 1804 by Richard Trevithick. The steam engine that was most commonly used on rail ways was that built by George Stephenson. According to Mary Bellis the author of The History of Railroad Innovations, “Stephenson's locomotive pulled six loaded coal cars and 21 passenger cars with 450 passengers over 9 miles in about one hour” (http://inventors.about.com). The growth of railroad use was a huge advancement in technology, because it helped transport people and goods to
The introduction of steam and iron reshaped and defined new tactics during the 1815-1866 time period with emphasis on the Civil War. Primarily, the invention of the steam engine and rifled artillery forged from iron would define a new tactical advantage for both Confederate and Union Armies. Furthermore, these two new inventions would also greatly increase the effects of speed, lethality, and mass at the tactical, operational, and strategic levels during the Civil War.
Have you ever thought about the impact the Transcontinental Railroad had on the United States? The railroad changed the United States economically, politically and socially. It brought more culture in, helped us import and export things, and made cities. All in all the railroad changed the United States economically the most because it helped us import and export things, made products cheaper and brought in more culture which means more jobs and money.
After the Civil War, the United States went through a period of rapid industrialization which affected the nation dramatically. Industrial growth, the spread of railroads, the rise of big businesses, and the appearance of labor unions during these decades created a modern industrial economy, and American workers and farmers faced new challenges in adapting to these changes.
"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
The steam engine used in means of travel revolutionized the transportation of goods, as well as the importing and exporting of them. "The steam-powered railroad changed geography and history. When grain merchants transported their goods by horsepower, they could go only so far before the horse consumed more than it could carry." (Gordon) In this aspect, the steam engine in railroads allowed people to import and export their goods on a faster, more reliable, source. Another major effect of the steam engine on society
The canalization of rivers, the steam engine, and railways were key components of the development of industry [2]. The extensive canal system was created around the mid 1700s to move goods and supplies inland. This system was cheaper and quicker than shipping goods over land [3]. The steam engine, however, was the driving force behind the Industrial Revolution. Prior to the invention of steam power, factories were located along rivers and used water for power. The development of a practical, efficient steam engine and its application to industry and transportation was a great leap in progress for industrialization. The steam engine’s application was limitless, and it was responsible for lifting industries from infancy to adolescence. Steam engines were used to develop machines that operated factory systems, pumps for mines, faster ships, and locomotives. A steam locomotive was able to carry raw materials and products very quickly. The expansion of the uses of the steam engine created the steam locomotive and a greater need for a railroad system. As a result, Railroads multiplied rapidly in England from 1,000 miles in 1836 to more than 7,000 miles by 1852 [4]. Machinery took the place of the work of many humans and made the work easier on others.
Gerald Finley says that for those who considered these new developments in a positive light it was reassuring that the "laws of science and technology were, after all rooted in nature and these developments seemed to promise widespread economic and social improvement.'; At the same time there were detractors and this was because of the perceived threat of further encroachment on what some considered to be the 'natural order of things'. Railroads struck many at this time as the seminal achievement of the industrial age, so it is not surprising that public ambivalence extended to the steam locomotive and rail travel as well. It signified to many the destruction of the countryside and a change in the old agrarian based social order. In conjunction with this shift, which was really a shift to a capitalist economy, the steam revolution fundamentally changed the fabric of peoples lives, it changed the way people experienced time and space, it shrunk the boundaries of their world and changed their imagined geographies. This had implications for the way people perceived the world at large and also imaged the nation.