Robert Fulton: The First Successful Commercial Steamboat

Before inventing the first successful commercial steamboat, The Clermont, Robert Fulton was an artist. It was not until Fulton traveled to England when he started to become enamored by technology and showed interest in engineering. Before Fulton invented the steamboat people used horses and other boats such as the sailboat for travel and trade. Robert Fulton helped pave the way for steamboats in the future as well as other aquatic vehicles such as the submarine and battleships. During the 1800’s Robert Fulton improved travel and trade in the canal system by inventing the first successful steamboat.
Robert Fulton was born on November 14th, 1765 in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Lancaster was then the largest inland city developed in the United …show more content…
He received some early education at home before attending a Quaker school for a short amount of time. He then moved to Philadelphia at the age of 17 and worked as a painter of miniature portraits which earned him a sufficient amount of money. At the age of 21 in 1786 he then decided to travel to England to help further his career as an artist with the help of the famous American painter Benjamin West. While in England, he realized that there wasn’t a very promising future ahead of him as a painter. This was when he started to gain more of an interest in science, and engineering. Now with his main focus on canal engineering, he wanted to replace the locks with something more efficient. This …show more content…
The steamboat provided a new way of travel all across the United States. Before the invention of the steamboat people got around by walking, riding on horseback, and traveling in boats down the stream. But the Steamboat provided a way to now travel upstream in a river. This made it possible for people to travel on waterways such as the Hudson River, The St. Lawrence Seaway, and the Mississippi River in both directions. The steamboat also allowed more cargo to be carried than their past counterparts. This allowed businesses to increase their profits by shipping more goods and passengers. The steamboat played a major part in the industrial revolution. If there wasn’t the steamboat the transport of goods and products would not have been possible. The steamboat allowed a more efficient way of traveling over to Europe to trade over there as well as in other parts of the world. This also allowed people to immigrate to America and emigrate from America. The Steamboat paved the way for the future in Navy’s all around the world, especially the invention of Robert Fulton’s Demologos. In 1803 the Louisiana Purchase took place, doubling the size of the country. By 1840 almost 7 million Americans had migrated westward because of Manifest Destiny or their god given right to expand out West. This helped lead to the creation of many towns out West. The steamboat was the first instrument used for

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Robert Fulton: The First Successful Commercial Steamboat