1. Early Inventions

2. Thread-Spinning Mill Builder: Samuel Slater Year: 1789
Apprentice in one of Arkwright’s Factories (Great Britain)
Produced cotton thread
Rapid rate of production

3. Steamboat Builder: Robert Fulton Year: 1807
First practical steamboat was called the Clermont
Made traveling on river easier and faster
Canals
Used for trade and the moving of raw materials
First oceangoing steamship wouldn’t be produced until 1850 in Great Britain

4. Cotton Gin Inventor: Eli Whitney Year: 1794
Need for cotton by factories in the North
A worker could produce fifty time more cotton fiber
Increase of slave labor
“Cotton Kingdom:” owners of large plantations

5. Telegraph Inventor: Samuel Morse Year: 1844 Revolutionized
communication
Morse Code
Factories in the East could
now communicate with
markets in the West

6. Metal Plow Inventor: John Deere Year: 1837 Blacksmith
Tough plains soil could not be plowed by cast iron plows (sticking)
Assisted farmers greatly

7. Mechanical Reaper Inventor: Cyrus McCormick Year: 1831
Cut wheat many times faster
than a human worker could
Enabled farmers to cultivate
more land with fewer workers
Great for the prairies of the Midwest

8. Power Loom Builder: Francis Lowell Year: 1814
Improved versions of English machines
Brought spinning and weaving
Allowed textile work to be done a lot faster

9. Sewing Machine Inventor: Elias Howe Year: 1846
Made producing clothing efficient
Made cloths less expensive so even the lower and middle classes could dress like the wealthier Americans
Ties back to cotton

10. Vulcanized Rubber Inventor: Charles Goodyear Year: 1839
Made working with rubber easier (sticking when hot and hard when cold)
Removed sulfur and then heated so it would retained its elasticity