For centuries, people had relied on wind, water, animal, and human power to drive the machines of industry, agriculture, and transportation. But at the beginning of the 19th century, a new source of power arrived: the steam engine. Among the first to make a splash with the steam engine was Robert Fulton, who had built prototypes of a steamboat in Britain before testing his first American vessel on the Hudson in 1807. It made the trip from New York to Albany in 32 hours -- a trip which took four days for a wind-powered boat. Steam-powered locomotives would revolutionize land-based transportation as well, and by 1860 thousands of miles of railroad track would crisscross the East. Steam also found its way into factories, where it provided the power for the American Industrial Revolution. And steam-driven farm equipment would make farmers' lives easier, improving efficiency and leading to larger-scale farming operations in America's heartland. |
