Intro
Intro: What if I told you that Slavery in the south, the American Manifest Destiny, and Nuclear Energy all have something in common? Call me crazy, but that connection is due to the invention of the steam engine. The steam engine had broad implications for future innovations and society that continue to impact us to this day.
Background:
-First let us look at what a steam engine is and the three men that created it
-Thomas Savery, 1698, Devonshire
-The Miners Friend Company
-Water flooding lower parts of coal mines
-Needed a more efficient way than hand-pumps
-Explain basic steam engine concept
-Boiling water to produce steam
-Steam goes through pipes, down into water
-Steam is sprayed with cold water to create a vacuum
-Thomas Newcomen, 1712, Devonshire
-Used sealed boiler instead of an open fire
-Piston system
-James Watt, 1769, Scotland
-Condensation process was separate from piston
-Machine parts could now stay at intended temperature
Slavery:
-Changes in Textiles Industry
-Powered mechanized spindles
-Easy to spin cotton
-Better clothes material than wool
-Demand for cotton grows
-Cotton supplied due by slave labor in American South
-Revitalizes the slave labor industry
-Growth of slavery in 1800-1850s
Transition: Talk about how cotton was able to easily cross the ocean
Manifest Destiny:
-Steamboats
-First successful steamboat: The North River Steamboat
-American Engineer Robert Fulton in 1807
-New York City to Albany upstream on the Hudson River at 5mph
-Allowed for growth of towns/cities upstream on rivers
-Ohio & Mississippi Valleys
-First Transoceanic Steamboat Voyage: Savannah
-1819, from Savannah to Liverpool in 27 days
-Half time on sailboat
-Enabled greater North Atlantic sea travel named “The Atlantic Ferry”
-Steam trains
-First commercial steam train: The Rocket
-British Engineer Richard Trevithick in 1803
-Carried passengers from Liverpool to Manchester at 36mph
-Impact of railroads in America, rise of industrial power
-Goods could be easily transported, opening up new markets out West
-New settlements around train routes
-Factories centralize around railroad hubs, creating places like Chicago
Nuclear Energy:
-Electrical Engines and Combustion Engines have taken over steam power
-The core idea of steam engines used in Nuclear Power Plants
-Describe how power plants work
-Nuclear Energy might be temporary solution to meet our power needs while we transition over to sustainable energy.
Conclusion: What to take away from all of this: The invention of the steam engine shows us to not underestimate the impact of new technologies, because they could have a great impact on the future. Thank you.