US History

Science and Technology

Expansion and Reform (1801-1861)

This collection uses primary sources to explore the development of the steam engine and its impact on transportation in the nineteenth century.

A patent granted by the Georgia Assembly to Isaac Briggs and William Longstreet for their steam engine, 1789. 

Isaac Briggs was an engineer and surveyor and William Longstreet was an inventor. They used their steam engine to power a steamboat along the Savannah River in 1807, but Robert Fulton had successfully piloted his steamboat, the *Clermont*, in New York several days earlier. This patent, issued by the State of Georgia, was granted before the formation of the U.S. Patent Office. 

Transcript:

An Account Of The Construction And Principles Of Briggs' And Longstreet's Steam Engine, For The Exclusive Use Of Which A Privilege Was Granted To The Investors, For Fourteen Years, By An Act Of The Legislature Passed At Augusta, The First Day Of February, 1788.

This engine consists of a Boiler, two Cylinders and a Condenser, constructed in the following manner, viz.:

The Boiler 
Consists of two metallic vessels, globular, or nearly so, placed one within the other, so as to leave a small interstice between, in which interstice the boiling water is contained. The inner vessel contains the fuel, the flame of which passes through a spiral flue winding round the outside of the outer vessel from the bottom to the top. The steam is conveyed by a pipe from the boiler into an interstice between

The Two Cylinders 
Which are placed, horizontally, one within the other, from whence it is admitted alternately into each end of the inner cylinder, in which it impels a piston to vibrate both ways with equal force. It is also admitted alternately to pass from each end of the inner cylinder (all the communications, to and from which, are opened and shut by a single cock) by means of pipes into

The Condenser, 
Which is a metallic vessel having a large surface in contact with cold water. The condensed steam or warm water is drawn out of it by a pump.

I. Briggs, 
Wm. Longstreet. 
Recorded 30th Jan. 1789.

Excerpts from *A Rudimentary Treatise on the Steam Engine* by Dionysius Lardner, 1848. 

A print depicting Robert Fulton’s steamboat, the *Clermont*, which had its first successful journey in 1807.

Robert Fulton’s *Clermont* was not the first steamboat, but his design was the first to be commercially successful. On its first journey, the *Clermont* brought Fulton and business partner Robert Livingston from New York City up the Hudson River to Albany, NY.

A chart of steam vessels built in New York City by Robert Fulton or according to his design, 1790-1816.

After Fulton’s first journey on the *Clermont*, he continued to build and design steamboats to serve routes throughout greater New York and New Jersey.


A broadside advertising the steamboat Nyack, which offered ferry service between Nyack, New York and New York City, 1827. 

Nyack is a town on the Hudson River, approximately twenty-five miles north of Manhattan.

An advertisement for the steamboat *Linda*, traveling among Sacramento, Marysville, and Yuba City, California along the Feather River, 1850. 

A photograph of a multi-level steamboat in New Orleans, Louisiana. 

Multi-level steamboats became popular in the Great Lakes and on the Mississippi River as a means of transporting goods and travellers.


A photograph of cotton on the levees in New Orleans with river steamboats in background, ca. 1870s-1880s. 

A photograph of a railroad car before steam locomotives, ca. 1834. 

Early railroads were essentially horse-drawn stage coaches on tracks.

A stereograph of passengers at a train station in New Hampshire’s White Mountains, ca. 1850. 

A photograph of the Pioneer, a steam locomotive, which was built in Boston and put into service in San Francisco, ca. 1868. 

The note on back of image reads: "Built in Boston and brought around Cape Horn to San Francisco in 1855, this locomotive was christened the ‘Elephant’ because of its size, and went to work grading San Francisco sand hills. In 1856 it was sold to the Sacramento Valley Railroad and rechristened the ‘C. K. Garrison.’ By a third christening in 1868, it became the "Pioneer" in recognition of its distinction of being the first locomotive used on a California railroad and probably the first on the Pacific coast.” 

An 1863 bond sold by the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad.

The engraving depicts a typical steam locomotive of the time. Bonds were often sold to finance construction of the railroads.

Transcript:

[left] 
$500 
Know all men by these Presents, 
That there is due from 
The County of Washington 
In the State of Tennessee

[center] 
State of Tennessee, 
No. 37 County of Washington, No. 37

[right] 
$500 
To the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad Company, 
Or Bearer, 
Five Hundred Dollars,

Lawful money of the United States, with interest at the rate of six per centum per annum, payable semiannually on the 1st day of January and July, in each year, at the BANK OF AMERICA, in the City of New York, on the presentation and surrender of the Coupons, duly signed by the Clerk of the County Court of said County, and hereto annexed. The principal is re-imbursable on the presentation of this Bond at the Bank of America in said city, at the expiration of thirty years from the date hereof. For the performance of all of which the taxable property of said County of washington is irrevocably pledged. As these obligations are created in pursuance, and under the provisions of an Act of General Assembly of said State, entitled: “An Act to incorporate the Nashville, Franklin, and Columbia Railroad Company,” passed February 28th, 1852, all of the pertinent sections of which act are hereto referred to for further information.

In Witness Whereof, I Lewis A. Markwood, Chairman of the County Court of said County, have hereunto signed my name and caused the same to be countersigned by the Clerk of said County Court, and the Seal of said County to be affixed, at Jonesborough, on this first day of January, 1853.

W. H. Smith, Clerk Lewis A. Markwood, Chairman

[perpendicular]

Cancelled April 12, 1876, CW Meek, Ch. Co. Court (6 times)

[stamps at the bottom]

The Trustee of the County of Washington in the State of Tennessee Will Pay the East Tennessee and Virginia Railroad Company, or Bearer, Fifteen Dollars at the Bank of America in the City of New York, on the first day of [date changes on each stamp: July 1877 to January 1883), being the semi-annual interest then falling due on Bond No. 37 
$15. W.H.Smith, Clerk

A broadside advertising the Red Bird line as a travel alternative in “opposition to the railroad,” 1847.

The Red Bird steamship line ran along the Erie Canal route parallel to the Utica and Schenectady Railroad.

An 1850 map with the title “Traveller’s Map of New England and Canada Showing all the Railroad, Steamboat, Canal and Stage Routes.”

Excerpts from *Disturnell’s New and Complete Railroad and Steamship Guide*, 1857. 

Questions

1. Using the [1789 patent](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/full-steam-ahead-the-steam-engine-and-transportation-in-the-nineteenth-century/sources/1098) and the description in [*A Rudimentary Treatise*](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/full-steam-ahead-the-steam-engine-and-transportation-in-the-nineteenth-century/sources/1099), explain the fundamental elements of a steam engine. Try to match the steam engine parts described in the book to those in the frontispiece illustration. Hypothesize how the machine works using the illustration and confirm if you were correct using the book’s description.
2. Compare the ads for the [Nyack ferry](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/full-steam-ahead-the-steam-engine-and-transportation-in-the-nineteenth-century/sources/1102) and the [Steamboat *Linda*](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/full-steam-ahead-the-steam-engine-and-transportation-in-the-nineteenth-century/sources/1103). Who would have been the audience for each? What do they have in common? What had changed in the twenty-three years between the advertisements?
3. Using the [Nyack ferry advertisement](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/full-steam-ahead-the-steam-engine-and-transportation-in-the-nineteenth-century/sources/1102), the [list of Fulton’s boats](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/full-steam-ahead-the-steam-engine-and-transportation-in-the-nineteenth-century/sources/1101), the [Traveller’s map](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/full-steam-ahead-the-steam-engine-and-transportation-in-the-nineteenth-century/sources/1111), and the ads in [*Disturnell’s Guide*](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/full-steam-ahead-the-steam-engine-and-transportation-in-the-nineteenth-century/sources/1112), explain the impact of steam-powered transportation on local, national, and international travel.
4. Based on the image of the [*Clermont*](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/full-steam-ahead-the-steam-engine-and-transportation-in-the-nineteenth-century/sources/1100) and the [image of the steamboat in New Orleans](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/full-steam-ahead-the-steam-engine-and-transportation-in-the-nineteenth-century/sources/1104), what can you infer about the environmental impact of steam technology?
5. The adoption of new forms of transportation reflects social and racial inequalities of the time. Using the [photograph of cotton on the New Orleans dock](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/full-steam-ahead-the-steam-engine-and-transportation-in-the-nineteenth-century/sources/1105) and your outside knowledge, explain how innovation in railroad and maritime transportation impacted the institution of slavery and the trade in goods produced by enslaved labor. Do you think these new forms of transportation were equally accessible to groups such as women and African Americans?

Activity

1. Have students work in pairs. Ask each student to select a city or town (perhaps from a “hat”) and then use the [Traveller’s map](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/full-steam-ahead-the-steam-engine-and-transportation-in-the-nineteenth-century/sources/1111) and [*Disturnell’s Guide*](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/full-steam-ahead-the-steam-engine-and-transportation-in-the-nineteenth-century/sources/1112) to figure out the route they would take to get from place A to place B in 1857 and how long it would have taken. Ask students to consider the past, present, and future; what might that journey have consisted of prior to the invention of the steam engine? How would you make that journey today? How might people make that journey 100 years from now?
2. STEM Extension: As a class, construct a model steam engine. Try to match the modern components of the model with the steam engine parts described in the [1789 patent](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/full-steam-ahead-the-steam-engine-and-transportation-in-the-nineteenth-century/sources/1098) and the description in [*A Rudimentary Treatise*](http://dp.la/primary-source-sets/full-steam-ahead-the-steam-engine-and-transportation-in-the-nineteenth-century/sources/1099). See instructions here: [http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Simple-Steam-Engine-Anyone-Can-Build/](http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Simple-Steam-Engine-Anyone-Can-Build/). Also see YouTube videos: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWPrHLiR-W8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWPrHLiR-W8) and [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iWAvuycP7w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iWAvuycP7w). 

Teaching Guide: Exploring the Steam Engine and Transportation in the Nineteenth Century

Resources

1. [*Building the First Transcontinental Railroad*](http://dp.la/exhibitions/exhibits/show/transcontinental-railroad) online exhibit, Digital Public Library of America. 
2. [*America on the Move exhibition resources*](http://amhistory.si.edu/onthemove/exhibition/exhibition_1_2.html), Smithsonian National Museum of American History. 
3. [The Transportation Revolution](http://www.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/biogam.soc.ush.transrev/transportation-revolution-roads-canals-and-railroads/), Annenberg Center via PBS Learning Media. 

Overview

Steam engines harness the pressure of hot steam to create mechanical power. They revolutionized transportation and industry in the nineteenth century. The first steam engines were invented in the early 1700s in England and improved during the mid-eighteenth century. By the late 1780s, European inventors were experimenting with steam-powered boats and American engineers followed suit. Following Robert Fulton’s successful demonstration of his steamboat, the *Clermont*, on the Hudson River in 1807, steamboats quickly became one of the most popular means of trade and travel in America. Steamboat routes emerged along major rivers, across the Great Lakes, in the Caribbean, and on transatlantic routes between the US and Europe. In the 1840s and 1850s, steamboats also helped facilitate settlement on the West Coast, including California and Oregon.

The steam engine also transformed the railroad industry. Steam locomotives and railroad systems were created in England, but by 1830, inventor and industrialist Peter Cooper had designed the first American-built steam locomotive, called the Tom Thumb. Together, steamboats and steam-powered trains offered unprecedented speed and efficiency for travel, trade, and communication between distant parts of the country and world. The steam engine played crucial roles in the Industrial Revolution and westward expansion. 

English

Full Steam Ahead: The Steam Engine and Transportation in the Nineteenth Century

full-steam-ahead-steam-engine-transportation-nineteenth-century_13_c48a9170a722b29f77620e8c65c79398.jpg

Courtesy of The Erie Canal Museum via Empire State Digital Network.

“Broadside for Red Bird Line,” Digital Public Library of America, https://dp.la/item/66484a6f1b0abe0573c51ea35bbe76e7.

A broadside advertising the Red Bird line as a travel alternative in “opposition to the railroad,” 1847.

Cite this item

Tips for Students

Item 13 of 15 in the Primary Source Set Full Steam Ahead: The Steam Engine and Transportation in the Nineteenth Century