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Apollo 11 launch.

The technological and industrial history of the United States describes the United States' emergence as the largest and most technologically powerful nation in the world. The availability of land and labor, the diversity of climate, the ample presence of navigable canals, rivers, and coastal waterways, and the abundance of natural resources facilitating the cheap extraction of energy, fast transport, and the availability of capital all contributed to America's rapid industrialization. Image File history File links N_write_green_black. ... Download high resolution version (800x1000, 228 KB) Apollo 11 launch. ... Download high resolution version (800x1000, 228 KB) Apollo 11 launch. ... The Apollo 11 mission was the first manned mission to land on the Moon. ...

Most historians agree that the period in with the greatest economic and technological progress occurred was between the end of the 18th century and the beginning of the 20th. During this period the nation was transformed from a primitive agricultural economy to the foremost industrial power in the world, with more than a third of the global industrial output. This can be ilustrated by the index of total industrial production, with increased from only 4.29 in 1790 to 1975 in 1913, an increase of 460 times (base year 1850 - 100).^[1]

American colonies gained independence in 1781 just as profound changes in industrial production and coordination were beginning to shift production from artisans to potters. Growth of the nation's transportation infrastructure and a confluence of technological innovations before the Civil War facilitated an expansion in organization, coordination, and scale of industrial production. Around the turn of the 20th century, American industry had superseded its European counterparts economically and the nation began to assert its military power. Although the Great Depression challenged its technological momentum, America emerged from World War II as one of two global superpowers. In the second half of the 20th century as the United States was drawn into competition with the Soviet Union for political, economic, and military primacy, the government investing heavily in scientific research and technological development which spawned advances in spaceflight, computing, and biotechnology. The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783), also known as the American War of Independence, was a war fought primarily between Great Britain and revolutionaries within thirteen of her North American colonies. ... A Watt steam engine in Madrid. ... Combatants United States of America (Union) Confederate States of America (Confederacy) Commanders Abraham Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee Strength 2,200,000 1,064,000 Casualties 110,000 killed in action, 360,000 total dead, 275,200 wounded 93,000 killed in action, 258,000 total... The Second Industrial Revolution (1865–1900) is a phrase used by some historians to describe an assumed second phase of the Industrial Revolution. ... The military history of the United States spans a period of over two centuries. ... For other uses, see The Great Depression (disambiguation). ... Combatants Allied powers: China France Great Britain Soviet Union United States and others Axis powers: Germany Italy Japan and others Commanders Chiang Kai-shek Charles de Gaulle Winston Churchill Joseph Stalin Franklin Roosevelt Adolf Hitler Benito Mussolini Hideki Tōjō Casualties Military dead: 17,000,000 Civilian dead: 33,000... For other uses, see Superpower (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Cold War (disambiguation). ... ISS in earth orbit. ... RAM (Random Access Memory) Look up computing in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The structure of insulin Biological technology is technology based on biology, especially when used in agriculture, food science, and medicine. ...

Science, technology, and industry have not only profoundly shaped America's economic success, but have also contributed to its distinct political institutions, social structure, educational system, and cultural identity. American values of meritocracy, entrepreneurialism, and self-sufficiency are drawn from its legacy of pioneering technical advances.

Pre-European technology

See also: Native Americans in the United States

Monk's Mound is a large structure built by the indigenous peoples in the Plains.

North America has been inhabited continuously since approximately 10,000 BC. The earliest inhabitants were nomadic, big-game hunter-gatherers who crossed the Bering land bridge. These first Native Americans relied upon chipped stone spearheads, rudimentary harpoons, and boats clad in animal-hides for hunting in the Arctic. As they dispersed within the continent, they encountered the varied temperate climates in the Pacific northwest, central plains, Appalachian woodlands, and arid southwest where they began to make permanent settlements. The peoples living in the Pacific northwest built wooden houses, used nets and weirs to catch fish, and practiced food preservation, although substantial agriculture was not developed.^[2] Peoples living on the plains remained largely nomadic (some practiced agriculture for parts of the year) and became adept leather workers as they hunted buffalo while people living in the arid southwest built adobe buildings, fired pottery, domesticated cotton, and wove cloth. Tribes in the eastern woodlands and Mississippian Valley developed extensive trade networks, built pyramid-like mounds, and practiced substantial agriculture while the peoples living in the Appalachian Mountains and coastal Atlantic practiced highly sustainable forest agriculture and were expert woodworkers. However, the populations of these peoples were small and their rate of technological change was very low.^[3] Indigenous peoples did not domesticate animals for drafting or husbandry, develop writing systems, or create bronze or iron-based tools like their Eurasian counterparts. This article is about the people indigenous to the United States. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 715 KB) Summary Taken by Derek Collins Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 715 KB) Summary Taken by Derek Collins Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... North America North America is a continent[1] in the Earths northern hemisphere and (chiefly) western hemisphere. ... Kazakh nomads in the steppes of the Russian Empire, ca. ... In anthropology, the hunter-gatherer way of life is that led by certain societies of the Neolithic Era based on the exploitation of wild plants and animals. ... Nautical chart of Bering Strait, site of former land bridge between Asia and North America The Bering land bridge, also known as Beringia, was a land bridge roughly 1600 km (1000 miles) north to south at its greatest extent, which joined present-day Alaska and eastern Siberia at various times... Native Americans redirects here. ... A spearhead is the head of a spear. ... For other uses, see Harpoon (disambiguation) Harpoon gun redirects here. ... The red line indicates the 10°C isotherm in July, commonly used to define the Arctic region border Satellite image of the Arctic surface The Arctic is the region around the Earths North Pole, opposite the Antarctic region around the South Pole. ... Look up net in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Fishing Weir- a piece of early technology used by North American Natives and early settlers to catch fish for trade and to feed their communities. ... Various preserved foods Food preservation is the process of treating and handling food in such a way as to stop or greatly slow down spoilage to prevent foodborne illness while maintaining nutritional value, density, texture and flavor. ... Modern leather-working tools Leather is a material created through the tanning of hides and skins of animals, primarily cattlehide. ... Binomial name (Linnaeus, 1758) Subspecies B. b. ... Renewal of the surface coating of an adobe wall in Chamisal, New Mexico Adobe is a natural building material composed of sand, sandy clay and straw or other organic materials, which is shaped into bricks using wooden frames and dried in the sun. ... Unfired green ware pottery on a traditional drying rack at Conner Prairie living history museum. ... For other uses, see Cotton (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Loom (disambiguation). ... The Mississippian culture was a mound-building Native American culture that flourished in the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 900 to 1500 CE, varying regionally. ... Miamisburg Mound, the largest conical mound in Ohio, is attributed to the Adena archaeological culture. ... Appalachians in North Carolina The Appalachian Mountains (French: les Appalaches) are a vast system of mountains in eastern North America. ... Dogs and sheep were among the first animals to be domesticated. ... A draught animal is a (semi-)domesticated animal used for transport and haulage (the heavy labour of pulling carts, hauling timber and ploughing fields are examples). ... In general stewardship is responsibility for taking good care of resources entrusted to one. ... Assorted ancient Bronze castings found as part of a cache, probably intended for recycling. ... For other uses, see Iron (disambiguation). ...

European exploration and settlement

See also: European colonization of the Americas and The First European colonization wave

The discovery of the "New World" by Europeans explorers in the 15th and 16th centuries and subsequent Columbian Exchange profoundly changed the direction of technological development in North America. State-sponsored explorers like the Spanish Conquistadors arrived in the New World with technology unknown to the native inhabitants — caravels, domesticated horses, iron armour and swords. Territories in the Americas colonized or claimed by a European great power in 1750. ... The first European colonization wave took place from the start of the 15th century until the New Imperialism period in the second part of the 19th century. ... Inca-era terraces on Taquile are used to grow traditional Andean staples, such as quinua and potatoes, alongside wheat, a European import. ... Conquistadors (Spanish: []) (English: Conqueror) were Spanish soldiers, explorers and adventurers who invaded and conquered much of the Americas and Asia Pacific, bringing them under Spanish colonial rule between the 15th and 19th centuries, starting with the 1492 settlement by Christopher Columbus in what is now the Dominican Republic and Haiti. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Binomial name Equus caballus Linnaeus, 1758 The horse (Equus caballus, sometimes seen as a subspecies of the Wild Horse, Equus ferus caballus) is a large odd-toed ungulate mammal, one of ten modern species of the genus Equus. ... This article does not cite any references or sources. ... Swiss longsword, 15th or 16th century Look up Sword in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Agriculture

Main article: Agricultural history of the United States

A farmer using a horse-drawn plow.

In the 17th century, Pilgrims, Puritans, Quakers fleeing religious persecution in Europe brought with them plowshares, guns, and domesticated animals like cows and pigs. These immigrants and other European colonists initially farmed subsistence crops like corn, wheat, rye, oats as well as rendering potash and maple syrup for trade.^[4] In the more temperate southern climates, large-scale plantations grew labor-intensive cash crops like sugarcane, rice, cotton, and tobacco requiring native and imported African slave labor to maintain. Early American farmers were not self-sufficient; they relied upon other farmers, specialized craftsman, and merchants to provide tools, process their harvests, and bring them to market.^[5] The agricultural history of the US is long and complex. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 1595 KB) Farmer plowing, by de:Benutzer:Marcela Einscharpflug aufgenommen am 12. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1600x1200, 1595 KB) Farmer plowing, by de:Benutzer:Marcela Einscharpflug aufgenommen am 12. ... This article is about a particular group of seventeenth-century European colonists of North America. ... The Puritans were members of a group of radical Protestants which developed in England after the Reformation. ... The Religious Society of Friends, commonly known as Quakers, or Friends, is a religious community founded in England in the 17th century. ... A farmer in Germany working the land in the traditional way, with horse and plow. ... It has been suggested that Last Call Poker be merged into this article or section. ... COW is an acronym for a number of things: Can of worms The COW programming language, an esoteric programming language. ... For other uses, see Pig (disambiguation). ... Binomial name L. Corn (Zea mays L. ssp. ... Species T. aestivum T. boeoticum T. compactum T. dicoccoides T. dicoccon T. durum T. monococcum T. spelta T. sphaerococcum T. timopheevii References:   ITIS 42236 2002-09-22 For the indie rock group see: Wheat (band). ... Binomial name Secale cereale M.Bieb. ... Species References ITIS 41455 2002-09-22 Oats are the seeds of any of several cereal grains in the genus Avena. ... Potash Potash (or carbonate of potash) is an impure form of potassium carbonate (K2CO3) mixed with other potassium salts. ... This article does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... A sugarcane plantation at Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, 2005 A plantation is a large tract of monoculture, as a tree plantation, a cotton plantation, a tea plantation or a tobacco plantation. ... Species Saccharum arundinaceum Saccharum bengalense Saccharum edule Saccharum officinarum Saccharum procerum Saccharum ravennae Saccharum robustum Saccharum sinense Saccharum spontaneum Sugarcane or Sugar cane (Saccharum) is a genus of 6 to 37 species (depending on taxonomic interpretation) of tall perennial grasses (family Poaceae, tribe Andropogoneae), native to warm temperate to tropical... For other uses, see Rice (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Cotton (disambiguation). ... Shredded tobacco leaf for pipe smoking Tobacco can also be pressed into plugs and sliced into flakes Tobacco is an agricultural product processed from the fresh leaves of plants in genus Nicotiana. ...

Artisanship

Colonial artisanship emerged slowly as harsh travel and living conditions in America discouraged skilled craftsman from crossing the Atlantic and bringing their tools with them. However, because of this, American craftsmen were unencumbered by the various long-standing allegiances of European craft guilds that sometimes stifled advances in technology out of their own economic self-interest. American artisans developed their own apprenticeship system for educating and employing the young. Despite the fact that mercantilist, export-heavy economy impaired the emergence of a robust self-sustaining economy, these craftsman and merchants developed a growing interdependence on each other for their trades.^[6] In the mid-18th century, attempts by the British to subdue or control the colonies by means of taxation sowed increased discontent among these artisan and merchants in urban Boston, New York, and Philadelphia who increasingly advocated independence from British rule. A guild is an association of persons of the same trade or pursuits, formed to protect mutual interests and maintain standards of morality or conduct. ... Mercantilism is the economic theory that a nations prosperity depended upon its supply of gold and silver, that the total volume of trade is unchangeable. ... Nickname: City on the Hill, Beantown, The Hub (of the Universe)1, Athens of America, The Cradle of Revolution, Puritan City, Americas Walking City Location in Massachusetts, USA Counties Suffolk County Mayor Thomas M. Menino(D) Area    - City 232. ... “NY” redirects here. ... Nickname: Motto: Philadelphia maneto - Let brotherly love endure Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: , Country Commonwealth County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Government  - Mayor John F. Street (D) Area  - City 369. ...

Early industrialization

See also: First Industrial Revolution

American industrialization was facilitated by a unique confluence of geographical, social, and economic factors. The post-Revolution American population remained low relative to its European counterparts and the demand for manual labor created strong incentives to mechanize labor-intensive tasks. The eastern seaboard of the United States, with a great number of rivers and streams along the Atlantic seaboard, provided many potential sites for constructing mills and infrastructure necessary for early industrialization. In addition, the United States' perpetually limited labor supply and vast supply of natural resources removed the primary obstacles to industrialization in European nations. A Watt steam engine in Madrid. ...

After the close of the American Revolution in 1783, the new government provided strong property rights and a nonrigid class structure. The idea of issuing patents was brought to North America by English, French, and Dutch settlers in the 17th and 18th centuries and adopted into Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution authorizing Congress "to promote the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries." John Trumbulls Declaration of Independence, showing the five-man committee in charge of drafting the Declaration in 1776 as it presents its work to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia The American Revolution refers to the period during the last half of the 18th century in which the Thirteen... A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a government to an inventor or applicant for a limited amount of time (normally maximum 20 years from the filing date, depending on extension). ... Wikisource has original text related to this article: The United States Constitution The United States Constitution is the supreme law of the United States of America. ...

Factories and mills

A model of an early cotton gin.

In the mid 1780s, Oliver Evans invented the grain elevator and hopper boy that would eventually replace the traditional gristmills. By the turn of the century, Evans also developed one of the first high-pressure steam engines and began establishing a network of machine workshops to manufacture and repair these popular inventions. In 1789, the widow of Nathaniel Greene recruited Eli Whitney to develop a machine to separate the seeds of short fibered cotton from the fibers. The resulting cotton gin could be made with basic carpentry skills but reduced the necessary labor by a factor of 50 and generated huge profits for cotton growers in the South.^[7] While Whitney did not realize financial success from his invention, he moved on to manufacturing rifles and other armaments under government contract that could be made with "expedition, uniformity, and exactness" — the foundational ideas for interchangeable parts.^[8] Cotton gin from Smithsonian This work is copyrighted. ... Cotton gin from Smithsonian This work is copyrighted. ... Oliver Evans Oliver Evans (13 September 1755 – 15 April 1819) was a United States inventor. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... Look up hopper in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Gristmill with water wheel, Skyline Drive, VA, 1938 A gristmill is a building where grain is ground into flour. ... // The term steam engine may also refer to an entire railroad steam locomotive. ... Nathanael Greene Nathanael Greene (July 27, 1742 (O.S.)–June 19, 1786), was a major general of the Continental Army in the American Revolutionary War. ... Eli Whitney Eli Whitney (b. ... For other uses, see Cotton (disambiguation). ... Cotton gin A cotton gin is a machine that quickly and easily separates the cotton fibres from the seedpods and the sometimes sticky seeds. ... Interchangeable parts are stupid components of any device designed to specifications which insure that they will fit within any device of the same type. ...

Between 1800 and 1820, new industrial tools that rapidly increased the quality and efficiency of manufacturing emerged. Simeon North suggested using division of labor to increase the speed with which a complete pistol could be manufactured developed which led to the development of a milling machine in 1798. In 1819, Thomas Blanchard created a lathe that could reliably cut irregular shapes, like those needed for arms manufacture. By 1822, Captain John H. Hall had developed a system employing special machines, division of labor, and an unskilled workforce to produce a breech-loading rifle — a process that came to be known as "Armory practice" in the U.S. and the "American system of manufacture" in England.^[9] Simeon North (1763 - 1852) was a Middletown, Connecticut gun manufacturer, who developed Americas first milling machine in 1818. ... Division of labour is the breakdown of labour into specific, circumscribed tasks for maximum efficiency of output in the context of manufacturing. ... A Browning 9 millimeter Hi-Power Ordnance pistol of the French Navy, 19th century, using a Percussion cap mechanism Derringers were small and easily hidden. ... Endmills for a milling machine. ... Thomas Blanchard (1788–1864) was a prolific American inventor, awarded over twenty-five patents for his creations. ... For other uses, see Lathe (disambiguation). ... John H. Hall was born in 1781 in Portland, Maine. ... A breech-loading weapon, usually a gun or cannon, is one where the bullet or shell is inserted, loaded, into the gun at the rear of the barrel, the breech; the opposite of muzzle-loading. ... The American system of manufacturing involves semi-skilled labor using machine tools and templates (or jigs) to make standardized, identical, interchangeable parts, manufactured to a tolerance. ...

The Lowell's Boston Manufacturing Company revolutionized the role of manufactories.

The textile industry, which had previously relied upon labor-intensive production methods, was also rife with potential for mechanization. In the late 18th century, the English textile industry had adopted the spinning jenny, water frame, and spinning mule which greatly improved the efficiency and quality of textile manufacture, but were closely guarded by the British government which forbade their export or the emigration of those who were familiar with the technology. Samuel Slater, an apprentice in one of the largest textile factories in England, immigrated to the United States in 1789 upon learning that American states were paying bounties to British expatriates with a knowledge of cotton machinery.^[10] With Moses Brown, Slater established the first textile factory in the US in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. Slater went on to build several more cotton and wool mills throughout New England, but when faced with a labor shortage, resorted to building housing, shops, and churches for the workers and their families adjacent to his factories. Slater's business model of independent mills and mill villages began to be replaced by the 1820s by a more efficient system based upon Francis Cabot Lowell's replications of British power looms. These Lowell looms combined spinning and weaving, were highly mechanized, managed by specialized employees, employed with unmarried young women ("mill girls"), and owned by a corporation.^[11] Unlike the previous forms of labor (apprenticeship, familial, or enslaved/indentured), the "Lowell system" popularized the concept of wage laborer who sells his labor to an employer under contract — a socio-economic system which persists in many modern countries and industries. Image File history File linksMetadata Boston_Manufacturing_Company. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Boston_Manufacturing_Company. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Textile manufacturing. ... Model of the spinning jenny in a museum in Wuppertal, Germany The spinning jenny is a multi-spool spinning wheel. ... The water frame is an extension of the spinning frame; both of which are credited to Richard Arkwright. ... The spinning mule was created by Samuel Crompton. ... Samuel Slater (1768 – 1835) popularly called The Father of the American Industrial Revolution Samuel Slater (June 9, 1768 – April 21, 1835) was an early American industrialist popularly known as the Founder of the American Industrial Revolution. // The son of William Slater, a wealthy farmer, Samuel Slater was born near Belper... Moses Brown (1738–1836), designed and built the first factory houses for spinning machines during the American industrial revolution. ... Pawtucket is a city in Providence County, Rhode Island, United States. ... This article is about the region in the United States of America. ... , Waltham, Massachusetts Francis Cabot Lowell (April 7, 1775 - April 10, 1817) was the American business man for whom the city of Lowell, Massachusetts, United States is named. ... The power loom was designed in 1784 by Edmund Cartwright and first built in 1785. ... Cover of the Lowell Offering illustrating the paternalistic atmosphere. ... Wage labour is the socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer in which the worker sells their labour under a contract (employment), and the employer buys it, often in a labour market. ...

Turnpikes and canals

A lock on the Erie Canal.

USA canals circa 1825

Highways in the USA circa 1825

The thirteen United States likewise controlled a greater area (from New Hampshire to Georgia) than any European nation since the fall of the Roman Empire. Even as the country grew even larger with the admission of Kentucky, Tennessee, and Ohio by 1803, the only means of transportation between these landlocked western states and their coastal neighbors was by foot, pack animal, or ship. Recognizing the success of Roman roads in unifying that empire, political and business leaders in the United States began to construct roads and canals to connect the disparate parts of the nation.^[12] Image File history File linksMetadata IMG_4722. ... Image File history File linksMetadata IMG_4722. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 619 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (960 × 930 pixel, file size: 195 KB, MIME type: image/png) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Canal List of canals in the... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 619 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (960 × 930 pixel, file size: 195 KB, MIME type: image/png) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Canal List of canals in the... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 738 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (938 × 762 pixel, file size: 188 KB, MIME type: image/png) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Image File history File links Size of this preview: 738 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (938 × 762 pixel, file size: 188 KB, MIME type: image/png) File historyClick on a date/time to view the file as it appeared at that time. ... Official language(s) English Capital Concord Largest city Manchester Area  Ranked 46th  - Total 9,350 sq mi (24,217 km²)  - Width 68 miles (110 km)  - Length 190 miles (305 km)  - % water 4. ... For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation). ... Official language(s) English[1] Capital Frankfort Largest city Louisville Area  Ranked 37th  - Total 40,444 sq mi (104,749 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 379 miles (610 km)  - % water 1. ... Official language(s) English Capital Nashville Largest city Memphis Largest metro area Nashville Area  Ranked 36th  - Total 42,169 sq mi (109,247 km²)  - Width 120 miles (195 km)  - Length 440 miles (710 km)  - % water 2. ... Official language(s) None Capital Columbus Largest city Columbus Largest metro area Cleveland Area  Ranked 34th  - Total 44,825 sq mi (116,096 km²)  - Width 220 miles (355 km)  - Length 220 miles (355 km)  - % water 8. ... Not to be confused with Romans road. ...

Early toll roads were constructed and owned by joint-stock companies that sold stock to raise construction capital like Pennsylvania's 1795 Lancaster Turnpike Company. In 1808, Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin's Report on the Subject of Public Roads and Canals suggested that the federal government should fund the construction of interstate turnpikes and canals. While many Anti-Federalists opposed the federal government assuming such a role, the British blockade in the War of 1812 demonstrated the United States' reliance upon these overland roads for military operations as well as for general commerce.^[13] Construction on the National Road began in 1815 in Cumberland, Maryland and reached Wheeling, Virginia in 1818, but political strife thereafter ultimately prevented its western advance to the Mississippi River. Nevertheless, the road became a primary overland conduit through Appalachian Mountains and was the gateway for thousands of antebellum westward-bound settlers. This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... A joint stock company (JSC) is a type of business partnership in which the capital is formed by the individual contributions of a group of shareholders. ... Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Area  Ranked 33rd  - Total 46,055 sq mi (119,283 km²)  - Width 280 miles (455 km)  - Length 160 miles (255 km)  - % water 2. ... The Lancaster Turnpike was the first long-distance, paved road in the United States. ... The United States Secretary of the Treasury is the head of the United States Department of the Treasury, concerned with finance and monetary matters, and, until 2003, some issues of national security and defense. ... Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (January 29, 1761 – August 12, 1849) was a Swiss-American ethnologist, linguist, politician, diplomat, Congressman, and the longest-serving United States Secretary of the Treasury. ... A toll road, turnpike or tollpike is a road on which a toll authority collects a fee for use. ... For other uses, see Canal (disambiguation). ... The Democratic-Republican Party, founded by Thomas Jefferson and James Madison as the Republican party (not related to the present-day Republican Party) in 1792, was the dominant political party in the United States from 1800 until the 1820s, when it split into competing factions, one of which became the... This article is about the U.S. – U.K. war. ... Mile markers can still be found along the National Road; this one is located in Columbus, Ohio. ... Portal:Cumberland, Maryland Top * Places * Culture * Media * Companies * Education * History * People * Religion * Sports * Trans* Tourism For other places with the same name, see Cumberland (disambiguation). ... Nickname: The Friendly City Location in Ohio County in the State of West Virginia Coordinates: Settled 1769 Established 1806 Incorporated 1836  - Mayor Nick Sparachane  - City Manager Robert Herron  - Chief of Police Kevin Gessler, Sr. ... For the river in Canada, see Mississippi River (Ontario). ... Appalachians in North Carolina The Appalachian Mountains (French: les Appalaches) are a vast system of mountains in eastern North America. ...

Numerous canal companies had also been chartered; but of all the canals projected,only three had been completed when the War of 1812 began: the Dismal Swamp Canal in Virginia, the Santee Canal in South Carolina, and the Middlesex Canal in Massachusetts. It remained for New York to usher in a new era in internal communication by authorizing in 1817 the construction of the Erie Canal. This bold bid for Western trade alarmed the merchants of Philadelphia, particularly as the completion of the national road threatened to divert much of their traffic to Baltimore. In 1825, the legislature of Pennsylvania grappled with the problem by projecting a series of canals which were to connect its great seaport with Pittsburg on the west and with Lake Erie and the upper Susquehanna on the north.^[14] Dismal Swamp Canal is located along the eastern edge of the Great Dismal Swamp in Virginia and North Carolina in the United States. ... The Santee Canal was one of the earliest canals built in the United States, being built to provide a direct water route between Charleston and Columbia, the new state capital by linking the Cooper River near Charleston, with the Santee River, which receives the Congaree River, where Columbia was established... The Middlesex Canal was built in the late 18th century to connect the Merrimack River with the port of Boston. ... The Erie Canal (currently part of the New York State Canal System) is a canal in New York State, United States, that runs from the Hudson River to Lake Erie, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. ...

Like the turnpikes, the early canals were constructed, owned, and operated by private joint-stock companies but later gave way to larger projects funded by the states. The Erie Canal, proposed by Governor of New York De Witt Clinton, was the first canal project undertaken as a public good to be financed at the public risk through the issuance of bonds.^[15] When the project was completed in 1825, the canal linked Lake Erie with the Hudson River through 83 separate locks and over a distance of 363 miles. The success of the Erie Canal spawned a boom of other canal-building around the country: over 3,326 miles of artificial waterways were constructed between 1816 and 1840.^[16] Small towns like Syracuse, New York, Buffalo, New York, and Cleveland, Ohio that lied along major canal routes boomed into major industrial and trade centers, while exuberant canal-building pushed some states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Indiana to the brink of bankruptcy.^[17] The Erie Canal (currently part of the New York State Canal System) is a canal in New York State, United States, that runs from the Hudson River to Lake Erie, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. ... This is a list of the Governors of New York. ... DeWitt Clinton (March 2, 1769 - February 11, 1828) was an early American politician. ... In the United States, a municipal bond or muni is a bond issued by a state, city or other local government, or their agencies. ... Lake Erie (pronounced ) is the tenth largest lake on Earth[2] and, of the five Great Lakes of North America, is the fourth largest by surface area, the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume. ... The Hudson River, called Muh-he-kun-ne-tuk in Mahican or as the Lenape Native Americans called it in Unami, Muhheakantuck, is a river that runs through the eastern portion of New York State and, along its southern terminus, demarcates the border between the states of New York and... Nickname: Location of Syracuse within the state of New York Coordinates: , City Government  - Mayor Matthew Driscoll (D) Area  - City 66. ... Nickname: Location of Buffalo in New York State County Government  - Mayor Byron Brown (D) Area  - City 52. ... Nickname: Motto: Progress & Prosperity Location in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, USA Coordinates: , Country State County Cuyahoga Founded 1796 Incorporated 1814 (village)   1836 (city) Government  - Mayor Frank G. Jackson (D) Area [1]  - City  82. ... Capital Harrisburg Largest city Philadelphia Area  Ranked 33rd  - Total 46,055 sq mi (119,283 km²)  - Width 280 miles (455 km)  - Length 160 miles (255 km)  - % water 2. ... Official language(s) None Capital Columbus Largest city Columbus Largest metro area Cleveland Area  Ranked 34th  - Total 44,825 sq mi (116,096 km²)  - Width 220 miles (355 km)  - Length 220 miles (355 km)  - % water 8. ... Official language(s) English Capital Indianapolis Largest city Indianapolis Area  Ranked 38th  - Total 36,418 sq mi (94,321 km²)  - Width 140 miles (225 km)  - Length 270 miles (435 km)  - % water 1. ... Notice of closure stuck on the door of a computer store the day after its parent company, Granville Technology Group Ltd, declared bankruptcy (strictly, put into administration—see text) in the United Kingdom. ...

The magnitude of the transportation problem was such, however, that neither individual states nor private corporations seemed able to meet the demands of an expanding internal trade. As early as 1807, Albert Gallatin had advocated the construction of a great system of internal waterways to connect East and West, at an estimated cost of $20,000,000. But the only contribution of the national government to internal improvements during the Jeffersonian era was an appropriation in 1806 of two percent of the net proceeds of the sales of public lands in Ohio for the construction of a national road, with the consent of the states through which it should pass. By 1818 the road was open to traffic from Cumberland, Maryland, to Wheeling, West Virginia.^[18] Abraham Alfonse Albert Gallatin (January 29, 1761 – August 12, 1849) was a Swiss-American ethnologist, linguist, politician, diplomat, Congressman, and the longest-serving United States Secretary of the Treasury. ... Portal:Cumberland, Maryland Top * Places * Culture * Media * Companies * Education * History * People * Religion * Sports * Trans* Tourism For other places with the same name, see Cumberland (disambiguation). ...

In 1816, with the experiences fo the war before him, no well-informed statesman could shut his eyes to the national aspects of the problem. Even President Madison invited the attention of Congress to the need of establishing "a comprehensive system of roads and canals". Soon after Congress met, it took under consideration a bill drafted by Calhoun which proposed an appropriation of $1,500,000 for internal improvements. Because this appropriation was to be met by the moneys paid by the National Bank to the government, the bill was commonly referred to as the "Bonus Bill". But on the day before he left office, President Madison vetoed the bill because it was unconstitutional. The policy of internal improvements by federal aid was thus wrecked on the constitutional scruples of the last of the Virgina dynasty. Having less regard for consistency, the House of Representatives recorded its conviction, by close votes, that Congress could appropriate money to construct roads and canals, but had not the power to construct them. As yet the only direct aid of the national government to internal improvements consisted of various appropriations, amounting to about $1,500,000 for the Cumberland Road.^[19] The Cumberland Road, also called the Great National Pike and the National Road, was the first United States federal highway. ...

As the country recovered from financial depression following the Panic of 1819, the question of internal improvements again forged to the front. IN 1822, a bill to authorize the collection of tolls on the Cumberland Road had been vetoed by the President. In an elaborate essay Monroe set forth his views on the constitutional aspects of a policy of internal improvements. Congress might appropriate money, he admitted, but it might not undertake the actual construction of national works nor assume jurisdiction over them. For the moment the drift toward a larger participation of the national government in internal improvements was stayed. Two years later, Congress authorized the President to institute surveys for such roads and canals as he believed to be needed for commerce and military defense. No one pleaded more eloquently for a larger conception of the functions of the national government than Clay. He called the attention of his hearers to provisions made for coast surveys and lighthouses on the Atlantic seaboard and deplored the neglect of the interior of the country. Of the other presidential candidates, Jackson voted in the Senate for the general survey bill; and Adams left no doubt in the public mind that he did not reflect the narrow views of his section on this issue. Crawford felt the constitutional scruples which were everywhere being voiced in the South, and followed the old expedient of advocating a constitutional amendment to sanction national internal improvements.^[20] The Panic of 1819 was the first major financial crisis in the United States. ...

In President Adams' first message to Congress, he advocated not only the construction of roads and canals but also the establishment of observatories and a national university. President Jefferson had recommended many of these in 1806 for Congress to consider for creation of necessary amendments to the Constitution. Adams seemed oblivious to the limitations of the Constitution. In much alarm Jefferson suggested to Madison the desirability of having Virginia adopt a new set of resolutions, bottomed on those of 1798, and directed against the acts for internal improvements. In March, 1826, the general assembly declared that all the principles of the earlier resolutions applied "will full force against the powers assumed by Congress" in passing acts to protect manufacturers and to further internal improvements. That the Administration would meet with opposition in Congress was a foregone conclusion.^[21] MolÄ—tai Astronomical Observatory An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial and/or celestial events. ...

Steamboats

Fulton's North River Steamboat on the Hudson.

Despite the new efficiencies introduced by the turnpikes and canals, travel along these routes was still time-consuming and expensive. The idea of integrating a steam boiler and propulsion system can be first attributed to John Fitch and James Rumsey who both filed for patents or state monopolies on steamboats in the late 1780s. However, these first steamboats were complicated, heavy, and expensive. It would be almost 20 years until Robert R. Livingston contracted a civil engineer named Robert Fulton to develop an economical steamboat. Fulton's paddle steamer, The North River Steamboat (erroneously referred to as the Clermont), made its first trip from New York City north on the Hudson River to Albany on August 17, 1807. By 1820, steamboat services had been established on all the Atlantic tidal rivers and Chesapeake Bay. The shallow-bottomed boats were also ideally suited navigating the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers and the number of boats on these rivers increased from 17 boats to 727 boats between 1817 and 1855.^[22] The speed of the steamboats decreased travel times between coastal ports and upstream cities by weeks and costs for transporting goods along these rivers by as much as 90%.^[23] Download high resolution version (825x551, 67 KB)Clermont illustration - Robert Fulton from Project Gutenberg eText 15161. ... Download high resolution version (825x551, 67 KB)Clermont illustration - Robert Fulton from Project Gutenberg eText 15161. ... A boiler is a closed vessel in which water or other fluid is heated under pressure. ... John Fitch (born on January 21, 1743 in South Windsor, Connecticut, died by suicide July, 1798) was a clockmaker, brassworker, and silversmith who built the first recorded steam powered ship in the United States, in 1786. ... James Rumsey (1743-92) was an American mechanical engineer who exhibited a boat propelled by machinery in 1786 on the Potomac River before George Washington. ... For other uses, see Steamboat (disambiguation). ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... For other persons named Robert Fulton, see Robert Fulton (disambiguation). ... A paddle steamer, paddleboat, or paddlewheeler is a ship or boat propelled by one or more paddle wheels driven by a steam engine. ... New York, New York and NYC redirect here. ... For other uses, see Albany. ... For other uses, see River (disambiguation). ... The Chesapeake Bay - Landsat photo The Chesapeake Bay where the Susquehanna River empties into it. ... For the river in Canada, see Mississippi River (Ontario). ... View of Pittsburgh, the largest metropolitan area on the Ohio River, where the Allegheny River (left) and the Monongahela River (right) join at Point State Park to form the Ohio River Cincinnati, Ohio is a well known city along the Ohio River, historically known for its riverboats. ...

Steamboats profoundly altered the relationships between the federal government, state governments, and private property owners. Livingston and Fulton had obtained monopoly rights to operate a steamboat service within the state of New York, but Thomas Gibbons, who operated a competing New Jersey ferry service, was enjoined from entering New York waters under the terms of the monopoly. In 1824, the Supreme Court ruled in Gibbons v. Ogden that Congress could regulate commerce and transportation under the Commerce Clause which compelled the state of New York to allow steamboat services from other states. An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that either prohibits or compels (enjoins or restrains) a party from continuing a particular activity. ... Federal courts Supreme Court Circuit Courts of Appeal District Courts Elections Presidential elections Midterm elections Political Parties Democratic Republican Third parties State & Local government Governors Legislatures (List) State Courts Local Government Other countries  Atlas  Politics Portal      The Supreme Court of the United States (sometimes colloquially referred to by the acronym... Holding Judgement of the New York courts was reversed. ... Article I, Section 8, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution, known as the Commerce Clause, reads as follows:The Congress shall have Power . ...

Because the physics and metallurgy of boilers were poorly understood, steamboats were prone to boiler explosions that killed hundreds of people between 1810s and 1840s.^[24] In 1838, legislation was enacted that mandated boiler inspections by federal agents under the threat of revocation of the operator's navigation licenses and lowered the threshold for liability in suits arising from such accidents. While Americans long resisted any government's power to regulate private property, these new rules demonstrated that many Americans believed that property rights did not override civil rights and set the precedent for future federal safety regulations.^[25] Structural failure refers to loss of the load-carrying capacity of a component or member within a structure or of the structure itself. ... Georg Agricola, author of De re metallica, an important early book on metal extraction Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. ... Boiler explosions are catastrophic failures of boilers. ... The Steamboat Inspection Service was a United States agency created for the safeguarding of lives and property at sea in 1852. ... In the most general sense, a liability is anything that is a hindrance, or puts individuals at a disadvantage. ... It has been suggested that civil trial be merged into this article or section. ... This page deals with property as ownership rights. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... OSHA logo The United States Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is an agency of the United States Department of Labor. ...

Mining

See also: History of coal mining

Chinese coal miners in an illustration of the Tiangong Kaiwu Ming Dynasty encyclopedia, published in 1637 by Song Yingxing. ...

Civil War

Role of industry & technology in causes, conduct & operations, reconstruction

• Samuel Colt — Invented the revolver, the first repeating pistol
• John Browning - guns

Samuel Colt (19th century engraving) Samuel Colt (born Hartford, Connecticut July 19, 1814 - died Hartford, Connecticut January 10, 1862) was an American inventor and industrialist. ... rEVOLVEr (2004) is the fourth studio album release by Swedish thrash metal band The Haunted. ... A Browning 9 millimeter Hi-Power Ordnance pistol of the French Navy, 19th century, using a Percussion cap mechanism Derringers were small and easily hidden. ... John Moses Browning (January 21[1] or January 23,[2] 1855 – November 26, 1926), born in Ogden, Utah, was an American firearms designer who developed myriad varieties of weapons, cartridges, and gun mechanics, many of which are still in use around the world. ...

Technological systems and infrastructure

See also: Second Industrial Revolution

Progress of America by Domenico Tojetti.

The period after the Civil War was marked by increasing intense and pervasive industrialization and successive technological advances like the railroad, telegraph & telephone, and internal combustion engine facilitated America's westward expansion and economic development by connecting the frontier with the industrial, financial, and political centers of the East. Americans increasingly relied upon technological infrastructures like the railroad, electric, and telecommunications systems for economic and social activities. The Second Industrial Revolution (1865–1900) is a phrase used by some historians to describe an assumed second phase of the Industrial Revolution. ... Image File history File links Progress_of_America,_by_Domenico_Tojetti. ... Image File history File links Progress_of_America,_by_Domenico_Tojetti. ... This is the top-level page of WikiProject trains Rail tracks Rail transport refers to the land transport of passengers and goods along railways or railroads. ... Telegraphy (from the Greek words tele = far away and grapho = write) is the long distance transmission of written messages without physical transport of letters, originally over wire. ... For other uses, see Telephone (disambiguation). ... The internal combustion engine is an engine in which the combustion of fuel and an oxidizer (typically air) occurs in a confined space called a combustion chamber. ... This article is about the history and influence of the concept. ...

Railroads

See also: History of rail transport

The DeWitt Clinton was one of the first locomotives in the United States.

Between 1820 and 1830, many inventors and entrepreneurs began to apply emerging steamboat technology to engines that could travel on land. The earliest proposal came in 1813 from Oliver Evans' idea of a railway to connect New York and Philadelphia with "carriages drawn by steam engines."^[26] Many individuals and companies have a claim to being the first railroad in the United States, but by the mid 1830s several companies were using steam-powered locomotives to move train cars on rail tracks. Between 1840 and 1860 the total length of railroad trackage increased from 3,326 miles to 30,600 miles.^[27] The efficiency of railroad to move large, bulk items contributed enabled further drops in cost of transporting goods to market but in so doing undermined the profitability of the earlier turnpikes and canals which began to fold and fall into disrepair. However, the early railroads were poorly integrated; there were hundreds of competing companies using different gauges for their track requiring cargo to be trans-shipped — rather than traveling directly — between cities. The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869 and its attendant profit and efficiency had the effect of stimulating a period of intense consolidation and technological standardization that would last another 50 years. By 1920, 254,000 miles of standard-gauge railroad track had been laid in the United States, all of it owned or controlled by only seven organizations.^[28] The need to synchronize train schedules and the inefficiencies introduced by every city having its own local time, also lead to introduction of Standard time by railway managers in 1883. Horse drawn railway coach, late 18th century Density of the railway net in Europe 1896 Main article: Rail transport The history of rail transport dates back nearly 500 years, and includes systems with man or horse power and rails of wood or stone. ... The DeWitt Clinton, 19th Century photograph. ... The DeWitt Clinton, 19th Century photograph. ... Several railroads have been called the oldest in the United States. ... Great Western Railway No. ... A railroad car or railway carriage (or, more briefly, car or carriage, not to be confused with railcar), also known as an item of rolling stock, is a vehicle on a railroad (or railway) that is not a locomotive — one that provides another purpose than purely haulage, although some types... Rail tracks. ... The dominant rail gauge in each country shown Rail gauge is the distance between the inner sides of the two parallel rails that make up a railway track. ... Transshipment is the shipment of goods to an intermediate destination, and then from there to yet another destination. ... This article refers to a railroad built in the United States between Omaha and Sacramento completed in 1869. ... Standard time is the result of synchronizing clocks in different geographical locations within a time zone to the same time rather than using the local meridian as in local mean time or solar time. ...

Iron and steel-making

See also: History of ferrous metallurgy and History of the steel industry

Molten iron being poured from a blast furnace.

Because iron does not occur in nature as a pure metal, it must be smelted to drive out impurities and made stronger. Bloomery forges were prevalent in the colonies and could produce small batches of iron to be smithed for local needs (horseshoes, axeblades, plowshares) but were unable to scale production for exporting or larger-scale industry (gunmaking, shipbuilding, wheelmaking).^[29] Blast furnaces creating pig iron emerged on large self-sufficient plantations in the mid-17th century to meet these demands, but production was expensive and labor-intensive: forges, furnaces, and waterwheels had to be constructed, huge swaths of forest had to be cleared and the wood rendered into charcoal, and iron ore and limestone had to be mined and transported. By the end of the 18th century, the threat of defo