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Period: to
Industrial Revolution
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Textile Mill in Rhode Island
In 1793, British industrialist Samuel Slater (1768-1835) and his associates built the first successful textile mill in the United States in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. In the same year Hannah Wilkinson Slater (wife of Samuel Slater) became the first American woman to be granted a patent. (Image: "Samuel Slater" courtesy of www.invent.org) -
Interchangeable Parts!
In 1796 Eli Whitney (1765-1825), an inventor from Massachusets, secured a contract with the American government to produce 10,000 guns in two years. He rationalized that guns could be made more efficiently if the parts were standardized, rather than each gun made uniquely by a gunsmith. Although he failed to complete the 10,000 guns, his idea of interchangeable parts soon became adopted as the standard for other machinery, and is used today. (Image: "firearms" courtesy of www.eliwhitney.org) -
Fulton Designs the Steamboat
Robert Fulton believed the steam-powered ship held advantages such as traveling up a river against the current and a faster method of travel. He proved this to be true when his steamship, the Clermont, traveled up the Hudson River and completed the first successful roundtrip. By 1820, there were 69 steamboats traveling the rivers of the western U.S.. (Image: "Fulton's Clermont" courtesy of www.explorepahistory.com) -
Construction Begins on the Cumberland Road
Construction of the Cumberland Road began in Cumberland, Maryland in 1811. By 1833, the road stretched from Cumberland all the way to Colombus, Ohio. Because many of these roads were not federally but privately owned, tolls arose as a way for the private companies to make a revenue from the travelers on their roads. The Cumberland Road is now known as Route 40. (Image: "Cumberland Road 1811" courtesy of www.historytunes.com) -
Construction Begins on B & O Railroad
The advent of the railroad was the most significant contribution to transportation in the nineteenth century. Construction of what would come to be known as the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad began in 1828, and after its completion allowed transport at a speed unheard of in the U.S. at that time. As a result, by 1840 America had over 3,000 miles of track and several competing rail lines. (Image: "S class steam locomotive" courtesy of www.ohiorivertrail.org)
