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Steam Engines
Inventor: Thomas Savery
Facts: Engines powered by steam from boiling water.
Impact: Increased western settlement due to improved transportation; increased factory development in new areas. -
Spinning Jenny
Inventor: Elias Howe
Facts: Machines used to weave clothe and sew clothing.
Impact: Increased clothing industry production; increased a need for cotton. -
Factory Systems
Inventor: Samuel Slator
Facts: All steps of manufacturing occured in one location. Built near water and mostly in New England.
Impact: Brought machines and workers under one rood; increased growth of cities; job opportunities and clothing industry increased. -
Cotton Gin
Inventor: Eli Whitney
Facts: Machine used to pull seeds out of cotton and clean.
Impact: Increased production of cotton industry; contributed to the growth of the slave trade in the south. -
Interchangeable Parts
Inventor: Eli Whitney
Facts: Replacement pieces of exact specifications. Parts that are exactly alike.
Impact: Production became faster; reparis easier and cheaper; decreased need for skilled labor. -
National Roads
Inventor: Albert Gallatin
Facts: Road built from Maryland to Virginia.
Impact: Allowed people to move about the country easier and aided with settlement of new areas, -
Steamboats
Inventor: Robert Fulton
Facts: Boats powered by steam engines rather than water wheels.
Impact: Transportation became easier and faster; cities developed such as St. Louis; westward expansion. -
Erie Canals
Inventor: Calhoun
Facts: Waterway that linked New York City with Buffalo.
Impact: Opened up Ohio for transportation of farm products and development; westward expansion made easier. -
Lowell Mills
Inventor: Francis Cabot Lowell
Facts: Girls came to work 12 hour shifts and live in boarding homes.
Impact: Increased job opportunities for young unmarried women; gave chance for education; put some workers in danger. -
Steel Plow
Inventor: John Deere
Facts: A light weigh plow with a sturdy steel blade designed for heavier soils.
Impact: Plowing farms became much faster and easier; increased farming production and expansion of farms into the Midwest U,S, -
Telegraph
Inventor: Samuel Morse
Facts: Machine used to communicate by tapping out codes that could be transported.
Impact: Improved communication by making it faster; connected regions of the country together. -
Sewing Machine
Inventor: James Hargreaves
Facts: Machines used to weave clothe and sew clothing.
Impact: Increased clothing industry production; increased a need for cotton. -
Transcontinental Railroad
Inventor: Central Pacific Railroad and Union Pacific Railroad
Facts: Railroad that connected the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.
Impact: Improved transportation as goods and people would be connected as they moved west.
