At the same time that interest in canal building was growing, the prospect of improved waterway transportation also arose. During the 1780s John Fitch (see Biographies) and James Rumsey had proved the value of steam as a source of power for boats on the Delaware and Potomac Rivers, respectively. Other experiments continued in the United States and Great Britain throughout the 1790s. However, Robert Fulton brought the new era of steam-powered water transportation to fruition in the early 19th century. Fulton was born in Pennsylvania and from an early age showed an interest in both artistic and technical endeavors. At age thirteen he developed a special paddlewheel concept for fishing boats. While residing in Philadelphia, he painted portraits and landscapes, made mechanical and architectural drawings, and met and received instruction from Benjamin Franklin. He traveled to Great Britain and became an apprentice to the Duke of Bridgewater, who had been instrumental in canal construction. He continued his experiments and obtained patents for several devices associated with water transport. In the mid-1790s he traveled to Paris. After further tinkering, in 1801 he showed the French government an invention for submarine navigation that would employ torpedoes for military purposes. It failed, and he returned to Great Britain to seek that nation’s support for his project. After several additional miscues, Great Britain rejected the submarine concept but remained somewhat intrigued by the torpedo, although the nation did not pursue further development at that time. Fulton eventually returned to the United States and attempted to convince Congress of the efficacy of his maritime proposal. Congress appropriated funds for testing but never adopted his idea. At the same time, Fulton developed plans for surface steam navigation. He gained financial backing, but several efforts on the Seine River achieved only partial success. Fulton, encouraged by his progress, purchased a Watt-Boulton engine and returned to the United States to place it in a steam paddle-wheeled boat. In August 1807, Fulton’s Clermont (see Document 14) made a methodical thirty-two-hour trip up the Hudson River from New York City to Albany, covering a distance of 150 miles at the rate of five miles per hour. By the fall of that year, Fulton’s steamboat began making regular trips between the two cities. Fulton’s success generated a number of challenges by competitors who claimed that he should not receive exclusive patent rights for his invention.14 But the advent of more rapid water transportation was now a reality and became even more important as the United States entered the canal age. The situation would be reversed only after railroad expansion began in the 1840s, at the very moment canal construction had peaked. However, despite the transition to railroads by midcentury, steamboat travel continued to be important. This is clearly evident from the record of steamboat accidents. In 1858, for example, the United States had 75 steamboat accidents (47 sunk, 19 fires, and 9 explosions) resulting in 259 deaths and property losses of $1,924,000.15
World History
