America’s
place in international commerce emerged along New York’s Hudson River Valley during
the early nineteenth century. The country did not have the required technology
for domestic exportation at the time.
According to historian Richard Sylla: “The south exported tobacco,
cotton, rice, indigo, and naval stores, mostly to Europe” while the “Mid-Atlantic
region exported grain and livestock products to the Caribbean and Latin America.”
[1] This meant that commerce was dependent on the international exchange of
goods, and any change could have a drastic toll. Sylla notes: “France [in 1806]
prohibited all neutral trade with Great Britain and in 1807 Great Britain
banned trade between France, her allies, and the Americas.” [1] This interfered
with the exportation of goods by preventing America from trading with the enemy
of competing powers, which caused a crisis by extension. The country required a better way to exchange goods internationally. [1]
Americans began
examining domestic commerce, and exploring how to make it into a more profitable
system. Robert Fulton, “an entrepreneur, and agent of economic change,” viewed
the steamboat as an opportunity for profitability. [1] Fulton wasn’t the first in
America to create a steamboat, previous attempts were neither profitable nor successful.
The Clermont on the Hudson, 1810 (NYPL Digital Collections)
According to
Francis Dunwell in her study, The Hudson:
America's River, “Through careful study, Fulton improved on earlier
steamboat designs to make a practical commercial vessel… However, it was the
choice of the Hudson River as a place to debut the steamboat that made his
invention profitable.” [2] His decision to bring the steamboat to the Hudson
was the best choice because of its location and length that allowed its wide
accessibility.
Fulton formed
a partnership with Robert Livingston, who was an important part of the
steamboat and its huge success. In 1801, Livingston and Fulton met at a dinner
party in France, and began discussing their common interests. One of these was
the steamboat. They decided to partner up and work on this project together, which
Livingston funded. As mentioned, the steamboat was a huge success and the two
men soon formed a company worth a lot more than what they started out with. [2]
The success
of the steamboat in America soon expanded, and many more emerged, including one
that proved successful along the Mississippi. According to Dunwell regarding
the Hudson, “In July 1808, 10 months after the steamboat began regular service
from New York to Albany, his company earned a profit” nearing a thousand
dollars weekly. Shortly after the success of the steamboat, “Manhattan became
the nation’s leading port city” and after 1807, “the port began its meteoric
rise, carrying the fortunes of the entire city with it.” [2]
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[1] Richard
Sylla, “‘... The Patent in Contemplation Will Be the Most Lucrative That Ever
Was Obtained’: Robert Fulton to [Robert R. Livingston] on the Profit Potential
of Steamboat Navigation in the Early Nineteenth Century,” OAH Magazine of History 19, no. 3 (May 2005): 44-53.
[2] Frances
F. Dunwell, The Hudson: America's River,
(New York: Columbia University Press, 2008), 50-51.
Image Credit: The Miriam
and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection,
The New York Public Library. "[The Clermont making a landing at Cornwall
on the Hudson 1810.]" New York Public Library Digital Collections.
Accessed March 11, 2016. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47d9-7b61-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99
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