steam power

Examples of steam power in the following topics:

• A Communications Revolution

  • Mass production of inexpensive newspapers became possible due to the shift from handcrafted printing to steam-powered printing.

• Industrialization and the Environment

  • Fossil fuels powered the Industrial Revolution.
  • It fueled factory furnaces, steam-powered boats, and machinery.
  • Anthracite coal breaker and power house buildings, New Mexico, ca. 1935

• Urban Recreation

  • Mass production of inexpensive newspapers became possible when technology shifted from handcrafted printing to steam-powered printing.

• The Industrial Revolution

  • By the turn of the century, Evans also had developed one of the first high-pressure steam engines and began establishing a network of machine workshops to manufacture and repair these popular inventions.
  • Reliance on horse power for machinery in the United States soon gave way to water power; this resulted in a concentration of industrialization developing in New England and the rest of the northeastern United States, where fast-moving rivers were located.
  • Steam power fueled by coal, wide utilization of water wheels, and powered machinery became common features of the manufacturing industry.
  • This is the original steam engine design patented by Oliver Evans.

• The Pull to America

  • After 1870, the use of steam powered ships with lower fares became prevalent.

• American Technology

  • Evans went on to develop a powerful high pressure steam engine for use in steamboats and locomotives.

• The Second Industrial Revolution

  • In the same period new systems were introduced, most significantly electrical power and telephones.
  • Railroads also benefited from cheap coal for their steam locomotives.
  • By 1870 the work done by steam engines exceeded that done by animal and human power.
  • Improvements in steam efficiency, like triple-expansion steam engines, allowed ships to carry much more freight than coal, resulting in greatly increased volumes of international trade.

• The Cuban War of Independence

  • Only companies and the most powerful plantation owners remained in business, and during this period U.S. financial capital began flowing into the country.
  • A week after the declaration of war, Commodore George Dewey of the six-warship Asiatic Squadron, then based at Hong Kong, steamed his fleet to the Philippines.
  • Four armored Spanish cruisers steamed out of Santiago Bay to engage the American navy and were reduced to ruined hulks.

• The Spanish–American War

  • Only companies and the most powerful plantation owners remained in business, and during this period U.S. financial capital began flowing into the country.
  • American naval power proved decisive, allowing U.S. expeditionary forces to disembark in Cuba against a Spanish garrison already reeling from nationwide insurgent attacks and wasted by yellow fever.
  • A week after the declaration of war, Commodore George Dewey of the six-warship Asiatic Squadron, then based at Hong Kong, steamed his fleet to the Philippines.
  • Spain had been declining as an imperial power since the early 19th century as a result of Napoleon's invasion.

• The Campaign for Suffrage

  • Society women in particular had personal access to powerful politicians, and were reluctant to surrender that advantage.