Nye 3
steam power first transformed transportation--steam boat
and railroad
- this required high pressure steam engines
- Oliver Evans was a key engine designer
- initially these engines burned wood
- shifted to burning coal starting in 1840s
- once coal is cheaply available people begin
to think about using steam engines to power factories
in the 1830s and 1840s manufacturing using steam power began
to develop in some cities--some coastal, some railway centers
it took aggressive promotion in the 1840s to persuade
businesses to invest in steam power
in New England steam power exceeded water power only in the
late 1880s
canal system provided cheap coal and other heavy goods
the railroad produced regional and then national markets (http://pammack.sites.clemson.edu/lec122sts/hobsbawm7.html)
- businesses became larger because they had a larger
market, corporations replace partnerships
- ice
harvested from northern lakes could be sold all over
the country
- businesses in different cities now found
themselves in competition
Railroads changed the city and how people
experienced the world
- promoted tourism
- created new cities away from water
transportation (Atlanta)
in the south steam engines were mostly located in rural
areas, not cities
exception: Birmingham AL
Early American railroads used wood as fuel for their steam
engines, but steam power became more widely used when coal
became the fuel
- large scale use of coal required better transportation
- also technology for burning anthracite coal, which was
common in the northeast
steam engines could use the same belt and
shaft power systems as water wheels
Once you have steam power factories can be more concentrated
Concentrated steam powered industry was much more damaging
to the environment
smoke was seen as a sign of prosperity
The dangers of steam
- 1852 federal government started inspecting steamboat
boilers--the first federal regulation of technology
- businesses will cut corners for profit, regulation is
needed to protect the public
- But factories were not regulated: the legal principle at
the time was that when you took a job you accepted the risk of
that job and the company had no obligation to you
- coal mining was also dangerous in known ways but not
regulated even on a state level until 1870 in Pennsylvania
- a federal bureau of mines was created in 1910
- these dangers were seen as acceptable costs of rapid
economic development
Energy instead of force because a metaphor for human effort
1876 Centennial
Exposition
The new crowded cities built sewer systems, water supplies,
and gas plants to provide gas for street lights
networked city