Steamboat Research Paper

Railroads were faster and cheaper than canals to construct, and they did not freeze over in the winter. Steamboats played a vital role in the United States economy as well. They stimulated the agricultural economy of the west by providing better access to markets at a lower cost. Farmers quickly bought land near navigable rivers, because they could ship their products out to other countries. Due to the foreign trade it helped strengthen the trade relationship between New England and the Northwest. The transportation development had many positive economic changes in the United States.

Ralph Waldo Emerson said once: “When it’s errands are noble and adequate, a steamboat bridging the Atlantic between Old and New England and arriving at its ports with the punctuality of a planet, is a step of man into harmony with nature.” Steamboats were essential to moving goods quickly without delay and people efficiently, which changed the face of the Earth. It changed the entire world with how fast it moved and it’s machinery and created a better way to travel over oceans. Robert Fulton is credited with creating the steamboat however, he only created the first functional and commercially successful steamboat. Born in Pennsylvania on November 14th, 1765, he spent lots of time in Lancaster, a hub of intellectual people and technology. After inventing the first submarine, he attempted multiple times to attack British naval ships with them. The French employed him for his experimental boats as they were in a war with Britain at the time, but after seeing that his boats were unsuccessful, they essentially fire him. The British sent an agent to recruit Fulton to create contingencies to submarine attacks. After working with them, he brought back a fully operational Watt steam engine. Using this, Robert Fulton invented

The first steamboat, which came to be known as the Clermont, was constructed by Robert Fulton in 1807. This development in transportation was huge. People could now ride rivers upstream as well as downstream, regardless of winds, waves, or tides. Steamboats were an important invention because they played a vital role in the opening of the West and the South, both of which had many easily navigable rivers. Towns soon began to develop along the banks of often-traversed rivers. Now farmers could ship in and out their produce and any manufactured necessities at a much lower cost.

The men that made these had to be smart then made the two most incredible thing that are used now then back then but today we use it for getting places not like they used it back then in the 1860s. There transportation back then was the steam boats and the R&R train they were the high money transportation for the southerners that was lots of money but to the Northerners that was nothing. There was so many things that the South had that the North did not have.

At first, overland travel was slow and expensive, and the west was isolated from the rest of the nation. Canals, steamboats, and railroads began to appear, resulting in faster travel, cheaper transport, and greater economic growth. The Erie Canal, completed in 1825, connected New York City to the Great Lakes. It cut the trip time from twenty days to six days and made it much cheaper to ship goods, which later inspired many new canal projects. Additionally, steam engines used the steam produced by boiling water to drive machinery. They were developed as a new source of power in the early 1700s and improved by James Watt in 1765 to be used in factories and for transportation. In 1807, Robert Fulton used the idea of steam power to built one of the first boats powered by a steam engine. These steamboats could travel against the wind and against river currents, increased the speed and lowered the costs of river travel and shipping, and opened up the South and West to more travel and trade. Furthermore, in the 1830s, railroads were developed. Steampowered locomotives pulled trains of cars. Travel by train was faster than travel by horse and trains carried more cargo than other land transportation did. Thus, railroads could be built where there were no rivers. Before long, railroads spread rapidly across the United States and the miles of railroad tracks increased from 3,000 miles in 1840 to 30,000 in 1860. They were concentrated in the North, made shipping cheaper and faster, linked the East and the West, and helped industry

For example, Robert Fulton’s invention of the steamboat in 1807 allowed for fast two-way travel. The steamboat allowed the South to trade with the West quicker and more effectively. Also, it gave sailors the freedom to travel without dependence on the winds, making it possible for them to travel to any port at any time. To put in perspective the enormous change the steamboat brought about, a comparison of travel times could be made. For instance, it took the Clermont (1st commercial steamboat) 32 hours to travel from New York City to Albany, New York via the Hudson River while wind-powered sailing vessels averaged five days to travel from New York City to

The winter in January in 1805, Lewis and Clark spend time with the Mandan and Hidatsa villages in central North Dakota (lecture). From there they strike into an unmapped territory. The winter time was a rough one for Lewis and Clark. They struggled to find food and diseases impacted them greatly. Malaria was the biggest disease that affected Lewis and Clark.

Another great invention of transportation during this time was the train. America’s first train was invented by George Stephenson in 1822, and by 1825 the train was the first locomotive. Obviously everything at this time was made by hand, and every part of this engine had to be hammered into shape just like a horseshoe. John Thorswall, a coalmine blacksmith, was George’s assistant. The invention of George was very important in America because it allowed transportation from place to place in a quicker time. This boosted the economy by helping distribute many goods all around the country. Even letters were being delivered faster, so communication was increasing.

The early development of the of the steamboat was important. It used wheels with paddles to push the boat forward up the river. The first frame that was used was a flour milling frame. The first attempt to use a steamboat was by John Fitch in the 1790’s but it failed. The Clermont went up the Hudson River on August 01, 1802. The steamboat was originally built for the War of 1812. It was used to transport goods and

It is important to us because the Titanic would still be here today if He looked for the iceberg. Many people are dead today because of His actions. The saying “the titanic is unsinkable” was false. Fred Fleet is responsible the sinking the titanic because he didn’t say anything to anyone, he didn’t do his job, he ignored the captain which is illustrated in how many people survived and how many people who could of survived but didn’t.

A man by the name of James Watts introduced the first steam powered engine that would soon be used to power several forms of transportation. The steam engine had been around for a while, but wasn’t as advanced and wasn’t used on such a large scale such as powering transportation. Boats had been used for centuries for the main forms of transport, however, when Robert Fulton put the new steam engine to work to power a steamboat, it meant even more capital for businessmen. More jobs were created as the waterways were widened and dug deeper for the steamboats. Captains and crews were also formed to man the boats.

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.

Imagine an invention that could take people to where they wanted to go, created larger trade markets, and created very successful businesses. Robert Fulton was the inventor of the steamboat in America. He knew there was another way of travel

In 1814 the first steamship, The Fulton, was built by Robert Fulton. In 1837, another steamship, a new Fulton, was built. In 1839, Congress authorized the construction of three additional ships. Only two displayed at a high performance level of efficiency once it was completed in1842. With the development of four steamships in 28 years, it was recognizable that the Navy was reluctant in converting to steam.

Next introduced were steamboats. Shipping by steamboats was cheaper and faster. If one used a wagon, there was the cost of lifting the cargo off the ground and keeping it there as well as the cost of moving the vehicle forward. A water vessel had the advantage of only having the cost of moving forward because the water lifted the cargo. The shallow draft steamboat, however, could carry large amounts of cargo even against the flow of a river. Robert Fulton's Clermont proved the practicality of steamboats in 1807. The Enterprise was introduced by Henry Shreve in 1814 and proved to be the answer to transportation across shallow western waters. By 1820, there were 60 steamboats on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers and countless others elsewhere.