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Steam: The Untold Story of America's First Great Invention

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Sutcliffe really does tell a compelling story about "America's first great invention" which, to the best of my knowledge, has not been adequately told until now. Most of us learned early in life that Robert Fulton invented the first steam-powered boat, just as we were also told in school that Thomas Edison invented almost everything else, including the light bulb. In fact, James Rumsey and John Fitch competed strenuously to be the first to launch a steam-powered boat. During the summer of 1790, Fitch launched a steamboat commuter service between Philadelphia and Trenton but was unable to make it profitable in competition with stagecoaches. It was not until almost 20 years later (1807) that Fulton's Clermont carried passengers between New York City and Albany.

The need for water transportation was obvious, hence the importance of barges but they could not proceed against the current and had to be towed back or returned over land for their next voyage. What if the power of steam could be used to solve that problem? Of course, those whose economic self-interests would be threatened by (in effect) a steam-powered barge -- notably owners and employees of stagecoach and barge companies -- did all they could to oppose efforts by Rumsey and Fitch. They delayed but could not ultimately deny what proved to be the inevitable commercial success of steam-powered boats, "America's first great invention."

Sutcliffe's writing skills are such that her presentation of historical material reads like a novel worthy of Charles Dickens in his prime. Her narrative has everything: passionate and determined antagonists, a plot filled with crisis and conflict, conspiracies, use and abuse of political influence as well as all manner of anecdotes which help to reveal the stresses, tensions, and (yes) opportunities which developed during the years immediately following the American Revolution.

Great stuff!

When Isaac Newton was being congratulated for his schentific achievements he said, "If I have accomplished anything it is because I stood on the shoulders of giants who went before me."

When Robert Fulton produced a steam boat he took all the credit and got away with it. His achievements were great, but only because a bunch of inventors went before him. He too stood on the shoulders of giants, he just didn't admit it.

Andrea Sutcliffe has done a good job here of pulling together the history of the development of steam powered vessels in the United States.

She mentions that Henry Miller Shreve (after whom Shreveport, Louisiana was named) built some steam boats. I tend to say that the thing Robert Fulton built was really a steam ship, that is a deep draft vessel, suitable for use in deep rivers like you find in the Northeast. Shreve invented (along with some help of course) the typical Mississippi River Steamboat.

This is probably not important, but when we think of the early boats, we tend to think of riverboats on the Mississippi not the early boats on the Hudson.

Recommended book.

In school, we learned to say "Robert Fulton" whenever we were asked to name the inventor of the steamship. Alas, not only is that answer wrong; but a correct one cannot be summed up by just one name, one year, or one event. Andrea Sutcliffe unravels the tangled web of men, machines, failures, successes, financial backers, patents and politics involved in getting steamships chugging on American rivers during the time period of 1784 to 1811. Here we learn about people like John Fitch and James Rumsey. We discover how George Washington and Thomas Jefferson were involved in the process. We read about boiler explosions, innumerable tinkerings and improvements, and proving "who had what idea when." The newly-formed Patent Office plays a huge role in this drama. Robert Fulton doesn't even make an appearance until the last third of the book. Throughout it all, one has to wonder about the tenacity and sanity of the men who not only had to deal with the temperament of machines, but also with the skepticism of state and federal authorities. Imagine attempting to take a prototype steamboat down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers during the New Madrid earthquake of 1811! Why didn't we ever hear about these stories in school? As for Robert Fulton: "As Fulton freely admitted, he never really invented the steamboat. Rather, he built the first steamboat that really worked." (p. 180) And he comes off as a dandy and an opportunist in this book.

You might scoff and ask, "How interesting can the history of the steamboat be?" Read this book and find out. The miracle is that this invention ever came to fruition.

"Steam" captures the intrigue of the chase for steam-powered transportation. And there was no shortage of intrigue and industrial espionage when it came to building the first American steamboat. Ms. Sutcliffe also develops the novelty of steam power in the 18th century and what a radical departure the steam engine was compared to water power.
The story of the steam engine also involves politics. Inventors sought patents in order to make claims for navigation monopolies. The inventors knew that inventing a steam boat would not make them rich. However, a monopoly to operate a steamboat on a particular river would be their path to wealth. (The story of Robert Fulton.)
Ms. Sutcliffe takes care to present a balanced storyline. In most histories of the steamboat, the authors tended to be partial to a particular inventor. This is not the case with this work.
"Steam" is an American story, but it also is a global story with James Watt's steam engine setting the standard for the era. America had to invent a steam engine because Great Britain guarded the technology and export licenses of the Watt engine.
I found it quite remarkable that inventors James Rumsey and John Fitch built operational steamboats with almost no information to go on. And certainly, they had no working model (like Watt's engine) to copy. These boats were built a full decade before Eli Whitney introduced the concept of machined, interchangeable parts.
Ms. Sutcliffe has done her readers a favor by presenting her work as a chapter of American history rather than as a technology primer. The age of steam in America begins just after the end of the Revolutionary War. We find a fledgling American nation still joined at the hip with Great Britain. And we see the battle between states and the federal government for power to issue patents and navigation franchises.
The story of the steamboat makes for a good barometer of the first four decades of American history.