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More than a hundred years ago, a sickly Scotch boy named James Watt used to sit and watch the lid of his mother's tea-kettle as it rose and fell while the water was boiling, and wonder about the power of steam, which caused this rattling motion. In his day, there were no steamboats, or steam-mills, or railways. There was nothing but a clumsy steam-engine that could work slowly an up-and-down pump to take water out of mines. This had been invented sixty years before. Watt became a maker of mathematical instruments. He was once called to repair one of these wheezy, old-fashioned pumping-engines. He went to work to improve it, and he became the real inventor of the first steam-engine that was good for all sorts of work that the world wants done.

When once steam was put to work, men said, "Why not make it run a boat?" One English inventor tried to run his boat by making the engine push through the water a thing somewhat like a duck's foot. An American named Rumsey moved his boat by forcing a stream of water through it, drawing it in at the bow and pushing it out at the stern. But this pump-boat failed.

Then came John Fitch. He was an ingenious, poor fellow, who had knocked about in the world making buttons out of old brass kettles and mending guns. He had been a soldier in the Revolution and a captive among the American Indians. At length he made a steamboat. He did not imitate the cluck's foot or the steam-pump, but, like most other inventors, he borrowed from what had been used. He made his engine run a number of oars, so as to paddle the boat forward. His boat was tried on the Delaware River in 1787. The engine was feeble, and the boat ran but slowly. Fitch grew extremely poor and ragged, but he used to say that, when "Johnny Fitch" should be forgotten, steamboats would run up the rivers and across the sea. This made the people laugh, for they thought him what we call "a crank."

Robert Fulton was born in Pennsylvania in 1765. He was the son of an Irish tailor. He was not fond of books, but he was ingenious. He made pencils for his own use out of lead, and he made rockets for his own Fourth of July celebration.

With some other boys he used to go fishing in an old flatboat. But he got tired of pushing the thing along with poles, so he contrived some paddle-wheels to turn with cranks, something like those in the picture. He was fourteen years old when he made this invention.

At seventeen he became a miniature painter in Philadelphia, and by the time he was twenty-one he had earned money enough to buy a little farm for his mother. He then went to Europe to study art.

But his mind turned to mechanical inventions, of which he now made several. Among other things, he contrived a little boat to run under water and blow up war-vessels; but, though he could supply this boat with air, he could not get it to run swiftly.

He now formed a partnership with Chancellor Livingston, the American Minister to France, who was very much interested in steamboats. Fulton had two plans. One was to use paddles in a new way; the other was to use the paddle-wheel, such as he had made when he was a boy. He found the wheels better than paddles.

He built his first steamboat on the River Seine, near Paris, but the boat broke in two from the weight of her machinery. His next boat made a trial-trip in sight of a great crowd of Parisians. She ran slowly, but Fulton felt sure that he knew just what was needed to make the next one run faster.

Fulton and Livingston both returned to America. Fulton ordered from James Watt a new engine, to be made according to his own plans. In August, 1807, Fulton's new boat, the Clermont, was finished at New York. People felt no more confidence in it than we do now in a flying-machine. They called it "Fulton's Folly." However, a great many people gathered to see the trial-trip and laugh at Fulton and his failure. The crowd was struck with wonder at seeing the black smoke rushing from the pipes, the revolving paddle-wheels, which were uncovered, as you see in the picture, and throwing spray into the air, while the boat moved without spreading her sails. At last a steamboat had been made that would run at a fair rate of speed. The Clermont began to make regular trips from New York to Albany. When the men on the river sloops first saw this creature of fire and smoke coming near them in the night, and heard the puff of her steam, the clank of her machinery, and the splash of her wheels, they were frightened. Some of the sailors ran below to escape the monster, some fell on their knees and prayed, while others hurried ashore.

While Fulton was inventing and building steamboats, people became very much interested in machinery. A man named Redheffer pretended to have invented a perpetual motion machine, which, once started, would go on of itself. People paid a dollar apiece to see the wonder and learned men who saw it could not account for its motion. Fulton was aware that it must be a humbug, because he knew that there could be no such thing as a machine that would run of itself. But his friends coaxed him to go and see it. When Fulton had listened to it a while he found that it ran in an irregular way, faster and then slower, and then faster and slower again.

"This is a crank-motion," he said. "If you people will help me, I'll show you the cheat."

The crowd agreed to help. Fulton knocked clown some little strips of wood, and found a string running through one of them from the machine to the wall; he followed this through the upper floor until he came to a back garret. In this sat a wretched old man, who wore an immense beard, and appeared to have been long imprisoned. He was gnawing a crust of bread and turning a crank which was connected with the machinery by the string. When the crowd got back to the machine room Redheffer had run away.

Fulton died in 1815. Before his death many steamboats were in use. Some years after his death, steam was applied to railways, and a little later, steamers were built to cross the ocean.

Directions

Study the lesson for one week.

Over the week:

  • Read and/or listen to the story.
  • Review the synopsis.
  • Study the vocabulary terms.
  • Complete the enrichment activities.
  • Answer the review questions.

Synopsis

As a boy, James Watt pondered the power of the steam that rattled his mother's tea kettle. Watt once repaired a steam pump, used to take water out of mines. This led to Watt's invention of the first useful steam-powered engine. Many tried to use the steam-powered engine to move boats and failed. Robert Fulton of Pennsylvania was a poor student, but an avid inventor, creating his own fireworks as a boy. At fourteen, he invented a paddle wheel that could be turned with a crank to move his small flat boat through the water. Fulton combined the ideas of his paddle wheel with steam power to make the first useful steamboat. His first boat broke in two on the Seine in Paris, France. His second, also made in Paris, ran slowly. Fulton returned to America and ordered one of James Watt's steam engines to be built according to Fulton's plans. With it, Fulton built a boat called the Clermont. Others thought Fulton would fail, and called the Clermont, 'Fulton's Folly.' People gathered to laugh at Fulton, but their mocking laughter turned to wonder when Fulton's ship moved quickly through the water without sails. When some people first saw Fulton's ship belching and billowing steam, they thought it was a monster. Many more steamboats were built, and steam was eventually used to power trains.

Vocabulary

Bow: The front part of a boat or ship.
Stern: The rear part of a boat or ship.
Inventor: One who invents or contrives something not before known.
Ingenious: Inventive, good at contriving new ways of doing things.
Below: On a vessel, this means downstairs or below deck.

Enrichment

Activity 1: Narrate the Story

  • Narrate the events aloud in your own words.

Activity 2: Study the Story Picture

  • Study the story picture depicting the Clermont and describe how it relates to the story.

Activity 3: Map the Story

  • Robert Fulton tested some of his inventions on the Seine in Paris, France.
  • Find the Seine River and the city of Paris on the map of France.

Activity 4: Complete Copywork, Narration, Dictation, and Art   

  • Click the crayon above. Complete pages 49-50 of 'American History Copywork, Narration, Dictation, and Art for Third Grade.'

Review

Question 1

What two things inspired James Watt to develop the first steam engine?
1 / 4

Answer 1

James noted the power of the steam rattling his mother's tea kettle. He also repaired a steam pump, which he improved upon to invent a steam engine.
1 / 4

Question 2

Describe Fulton's successful steamboat design.
2 / 4

Answer 2

Fulton combined his paddle wheel with Watt's steam engine.
2 / 4

Question 3

Why did people call the Clermont, 'Fulton's Folly?'
3 / 4

Answer 3

People believed the Clermont was doomed to failure.
3 / 4

Question 4

Why were people scared of the Clermont?
4 / 4

Answer 4

When some people first saw Fulton's ship belching and billowing steam, they thought it was a monster.
4 / 4

  1. What two things inspired James Watt to develop the first steam engine? James noted the power of the steam rattling his mother's tea kettle. He also repaired a steam pump, which he improved upon to invent a steam engine.
  2. Describe Fulton's successful steamboat design. Fulton combined his paddle wheel with Watt's steam engine.
  3. Why did people call the Clermont, 'Fulton's Folly?' People believed the Clermont was doomed to failure.
  4. Why were people scared of the Clermont? When some people first saw Fulton's ship belching and billowing steam, they thought it was a monster.

References

  1. 'Clermont Illustration by G.F. and E.B. Bensell from Struggles and Triumphs of our Self-Made Men. (1870, {PD-old-auto-1923})' Gutenberg. gutenberg.org/files/15161/15161-h/15161-h.htm. n.p.