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Jethro Wood's Plow
Jethro Wood was a quaker born in New York who was fasicnated by inventing. He realized the biggest problem with the cast iron plow, it was often broken during use. Wood changed the plow so that it the point could be replaced by interchangable parts if it broke. This resulted in many farmers beginning to use it, and more people tinkering with it. He issued a patent on his new plow, which was the 19th patent ever issued. -
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Inventions in the South
As the expansion West began amongst Southern colonists, many inventions were introduced to the South. Many of these inventions impacted Southerners and aided them in their move or even convinced them to make the move. Amongst these inventions also came a societal change within the South itself. -
The McCormick Reaper
Cyrus McCormick was an inventor from Virginia. His reaper was a harvesting machine that virtually do a job that would previously take five men. The machine would be placed on the back of a horse, so it really took no manual labor. The machine would cut standing grain with a blade and would be swept in piles to a man walking along side by a revolving reel. The machine was not completely accepted at first, however it became so successful and popular it was mass produced and even sent to Britain. -
John Deere's Steel Plow
John Deere was born in 1804 in Vermont, and he always found an interest in inventing. At 17 he became a blacksmith, and he realized that wooden plows were constantly breaking in the South. To adapt to this, he created a steel plow. This was different than Woods' plow because this was not interchangle, it was just one steel plow. The plow was used to break up the soil that was clumped together. This invention was adored by farmers, and most of them took it with them on their journey West.
