Steam Engine
an engine that uses the expansion or rapid condensation of steam to generate power.
Steam Power
Allowed factories to move away from water power
James Watts
Innovator making the steam engine useful in 1765
Tom Thumb
the first American built steam locomotive
Peter Cooper
American ironworks manufacturer who designed and built Tom Thumb, the first American locomotive in 1830
Clermont
the first full-sized commercial steamboat
Robert Fulton
American that innovated the first commercially successful steamboat in 1807
locomotive
engine that pulls a railroad train
Steam Tractor
a steam powered vehicle designed to pull farm equipment and haul heavy loads
Canal
long and narrow man-made strip of water made for boats or for irrigation
Erie Canal
an artificial waterway dug in 1825 connecting the Hudson river at Albany with Lake Erie at Buffalo
Railroads and Canals
Helped the growth of an industrial economy and supported the westward movement of settlers
Railroads
Train routes essential to westward expansion because they made it easier to travel to and supply settlements in the west.
Steamboat
A boat that moves by the power of a steam engine, made it easier and quicker to travel goods
Cumberland Road
the first federal road project, construction of which began in 1815; ran from Cumberland, Maryland, to present-day Wheeling, West Virginia