Steam
Boats and Trains
Steam Boats
Several years after 1803 Robert Fulton tested the first full-sized commercial steamboat was called the Clermont. Steamboats the altered water transportation by being able to go against the water current without relying on wind power. It had an impact on American economy because it increased trade. We could trade more goods because it was easier, faster, and cheaper to transport goods. Steamboats began to be safe for human transportation in the 1850s. Gibbons v. Ogden allowed a bigger range of people to control water transportation.
Steam Trains
George Stevenson invented the first steam train in the 1830s, but they became popular in 1830 when Peter Cooper made the Tom Thumb. Trains traveled at a speed of 20 miles per hour while wagons traveled at a speed of 2 miles per hour. It was dangerous to travel by train in the early morning because it was dark, and the drivers said they went to fast.
"Kaiser Wilhelm" Steamboat-Pipe sounding
Old Train Whistle and Steam Sound Effects
Citations
the History textbook pages 396-399