A valve would then open to release the steam, allowing the piston to fall back to the bottom of the cylinder. The steam was pumped into a cylinder, causing a piston to move upward to the top of the cylinder. The steam engines on steamboats burned coal to heat water in a large boiler to create steam. Others soon followed Fulton's lead and the age of the steamboat had begun. It operated between New York City and Albany, carrying as many as 100 passengers at a time. The first person to combine a steam engine with an improved hull design to create a commercially-successful steamboat, however, was Robert Fulton.įulton's Clermont was launched in 1807 and quickly became a success. James Rumsey, John Stevens, and John Fitch were among the first to build and operate steamboats on American rivers. However, it was not until after James Watt improved upon the design of the steam engine that others began to build serious steamboats. Englishman Jonathan Hull patented a steamboat design as early as 1737. Several people must be mentioned when discussing the invention of the steamboat. All of that changed in the late 18 th century with the invention of the steamboat. Rivers offered a faster means of getting from one place to another as long as you traveled with the flow of the river.Įarly boats relied upon manpower to row them or sails to power them when the wind blew. If you wanted to explore the frontier, you had to do so on foot, on horseback, or on water. There were no cars, trucks, trains, or airplanes. Transportation back then wasn't what it is today, though. As the fledgling United States began to take shape and grow beyond its original 13 colonies, adventurers found that there was a lot of territory to explore to the south and west.
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