Robert Fulton (November 14, 1765 - February 24, 1815) was an American ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language engineer An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. Engineers design materials, structures, machines and systems while considering the limitations imposed by practicality, safety and cost. The word engineer is derived from and inventor An invention is a new composition, device, or process. An invention may be derived from a pre-existing model or idea, or it could be independently conceived in which case it may be a radical breakthrough. In addition, there is cultural invention, which is an innovative set of useful social behaviors adopted by people and passed on to others who is widely credited with developing the first commercially successful steamboat A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels. He also designed a new type of steam warship A warship is a ship that is built and primarily intended for combat. Warships are usually built in a completely different way than merchant ships. As well as being armed, warships are designed to withstand damage and are usually faster and more maneuverable than merchant ships. Unlike a merchant ship, a warship typically only carries weapons,. In 1800 he was commissioned by Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte , was a military and political leader of France and Emperor of the French as Napoleon I, whose actions shaped European politics in the early 19th century to design the Nautilus, which was the first practical submarine A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has only limited underwater capability. The term submarine most commonly refers to large crewed autonomous vessels; however, historically or more casually, submarine can also refer to medium sized or smaller vessels , in history.[1]

Contents

Early life

Robert Fulton was born in a part of Little Britain Township, Pennsylvania that was separated as Fulton Township in 1844. He grew up in a small, two-story, gray stone house.

Fulton had become interested in steamboats A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels in 1777 when he visited William Henry of Lancaster, Pennsylvania Lancaster is a city in the South Central part of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and is the county seat of Lancaster County. With a population of 55,351, it is the eighth largest city in Pennsylvania, behind Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Allentown, Erie, Reading, Bethlehem, and Scranton. The metropolitan area population stands at 494,486 making it, who had earlier learned about James Watt's steam engine The Watt steam engine was the first type of steam engine to make use of steam at a pressure just above atmospheric to drive the piston helped by a partial vacuum. Improving on the design of the 1712 Newcomen engine, the Watt steam engine, developed sporadically from 1763 to 1775, was the next great step in the development of the steam engine on a visit to England The area now called England has been settled by people of various cultures for about 35,000 years, but it takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in AD 927, and since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century, has had a significant. Henry had then made his own engine and in 1767 he had tried putting his engine in a boat. The experiment was unsuccessful because the boat sank, but his interest continued.

Education and work

In 1786, Fulton went to study painting in Paris, and there he met James Rumsey, who sat for a portrait in the studio of Benjamin West where Fulton was an apprentice. Rumsey was an inventor from Virginia who ran his own first steamboat in Shepherdstown (now in West Virginia) in 1786 and repeated his attempt on December 3, 1787. As early as 1793, Fulton proposed plans for steam-powered vessels to both the United States and British governments, and in England he met the Duke of Bridgewater Francis Egerton, 3rd Duke of Bridgewater , known as Lord Francis Egerton until 1748, was a British nobleman, the younger son of the 1st Duke. He did not marry, and the Dukedom expired with him, although the Earldom was inherited by a cousin, Lieutenant-General John Egerton, whose canal was used for trials of a steam tug, and who later ordered steam tugs from William Symington. Symington had successfully tried steamboats in 1788, and it seems probable that Fulton was aware of these developments.

The first successful trial run of a steamboat had been made by inventor John Fitch John Fitch was an American inventor, clockmaker, and bronzesmith who built the first recorded steam powered ship in the United States. He also invented the first recorded working model of a steam railway locomotive. His visitations with President George Washington, Benjamin Franklin and others resulted in the formation of the US Patent office on the Delaware River The Delaware River is a major river on the Atlantic coast of the United States. The Delaware was explored by Adriaen Block as part of the New Netherlands Colony, and was named the South River to mark the southernmost reach of that colony on August 22, 1787, in the presence of delegates from the Constitutional Convention The Philadelphia Convention took place from May 25 to September 17, 1787, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to address problems in governing the United States of America, which had been operating under the Articles of Confederation following independence from Great Britain. Although the Convention was purportedly intended only to revise the Articles. It was propelled by a bank of oars on either side of the boat. The following year Fitch launched a 60-foot (18 m) boat powered by a steam engine driving several stern mounted oars. These oars paddled in a manner similar to the motion of a swimming duck's feet. With this boat he carried up to thirty passengers on numerous round-trip voyages between Philadelphia and Burlington, New Jersey.

Fitch was granted a patent A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state (national government) to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for a public disclosure of an invention on August 26, 1791, after a battle with Rumsey, who had created a similar invention. Unfortunately the newly-created Patent Commission did not award the broad monopoly patent that Fitch had asked for, but a patent of the modern kind, for the new design of Fitch's steamboat. It also awarded patents to Rumsey and John Stevens for their steamboat designs, and the loss of a monopoly caused many of Fitch's investors to leave his company. While his boats were mechanically successful, Fitch failed to pay sufficient attention to construction and operating costs and was unable to justify the economic benefits of steam navigation. It was Fulton who turned would turn Fitch's idea profitable decades later.

In 1797, Fulton went to France, where Claude de Jouffroy had made a working paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a ship or boat driven by a steam engine that uses one or more paddle wheels to develop thrust for propulsion. It is also commonly a type of steamboat. Paddle steamers usually carry the prefix "PS". Although generally associated with steam power, paddleboats or paddlewheelers have also been driven by diesel engines, in 1783, and commenced experimenting with submarine torpedoes and torpedo boats. Fulton is the inventor of the first panorama A panorama is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film/video, or a three-dimensional model to be shown in Paris, which was complete by 1800. The street where his panorama was shown is still called "'Rue des Panorames'" (Panorama Street) today.[2]

The Nautilus

Fulton designed the first working submarine, the Nautilus between 1793 and 1797, while living in France. He asked the government to subsidize its construction but he was turned down twice. Eventually he approached the Minister of Marine himself and in 1800 was granted permission to build.[3]

Fulton presents his steamship to Bonaparte in 1803

In France Fulton also met Chancellor Robert R. Livingston who was appointed U.S. Ambassador to France in 1801, and they decided to build a steamboat together and try running it on the Seine The Seine is a slow-flowing major river and commercial waterway within the regions of Île-de-France and Haute-Normandie in France and famous as a romantic backdrop in photographs of Paris, France. It is also a tourist attraction, with excursion boats offering sightseeing tours of the Rive Droite and Rive Gauche within the city of Paris. It. Fulton experimented with the water resistance of various hull shapes, made drawings and models, and had a steamboat constructed. At the first trial the boat ran perfectly, but the hull was later rebuilt and strengthened, and on August 9, 1803, this boat steamed up the River Seine. The boat was 66 feet (20.1 m) long, 8 feet (2.4 m) beam, and made between 3 and 4 miles per hour (4.8 and 6.4 km/h) against the current.

In 1806, Fulton married Chancellor Livingston's niece Harriet (who was the daughter of Walter Livingston), and they later had four children: Robert, Julia, Mary and Cornelia.

In 1807, Fulton and Livingston together built the first commercial steamboat, the North River Steamboat (later known as the Clermont), which carried passengers between New York City New York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over global commerce, finance, media, culture, art, fashion, research, education, and entertainment. As host of the and Albany, New York Albany is the capital city of the state of New York and the county seat of Albany County. Albany is roughly 136 miles north of the city of New York, and slightly south of the confluence of the Mohawk and Hudson Rivers. The city sits on the Hudson and has a major port. As of July 2007, the city had an estimated population of 94,172. The Clermont was able to make the 300 mile trip in 62 hours. From 1811 until his death, Fulton was a member of the Erie Canal Commission.

Fulton died in 1815. He is buried in the Trinity Church Cemetery in New York City, alongside other famous Americans such as Alexander Hamilton Alexander Hamilton was the first United States Secretary of the Treasury, a Founding Father, economist, and political philosopher. Aide-de-camp to General George Washington during the American Revolutionary War, he was a leader of nationalist forces calling for a new Constitution; he was one of America's first Constitutional lawyers, and wrote.

Posthumous honors

The marble statue by Howard Roberts in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol Building The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the Federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill at the eastern end of the National Mall. Though not in the geographic center of the District of Columbia, the Capitol is the origin by which the An 1806 submarine design in cross section by Robert Fulton

In 1816, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Pennsylvania has 51 miles of coastline along Lake Erie and 57 miles (92 km) of shoreline along the Delaware Estuary donated a marble statue of Fulton to the National Statuary Hall Collection in the US Capitol Building. Fulton was also honored for his development of steamship A steamboat or steamship, sometimes called a steamer, is a ship in which the primary method of propulsion is steam power, typically driving propellers or paddlewheels technology in New York City's Hudson-Fulton Celebration of 1909. A replica of his first steam-powered steam vessel, the Vermonter, was built for the occasion.

A wide number of places are named for Robert Fulton and his inventions, including:

References

  1. ^ American Treasures of the Library of Congress: "Fulton's Submarine"
  2. ^ Alice Crary Sutcliffe, Robert Fulton and the "Clermont", page 63[1].
  3. ^ Burgess, Robert Forrest (1975). Ships Beneath the Sea. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 9780070089587. http://www.google.ca/books?id=fDZUAAAAMAAJ&pgis=1.
  4. ^ Fulton Elementary School website

External links

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