Well, At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the invention of the steam engine became widely popular. In 1787, John Fitch demonstrated the first steamboat, which was propelled by a steam engine, however they could not carry passengers. Countless people attempted to improve steamboats so that they could carry passengers, yet this race was accomplished by an inventor named “Robert Fulton’’. By the 1830s, steamboats were the convention. They were used as methods of transportation in canals and other accessible waterways.
Not only did this effect future innovations, this invention had a huge effect on the economy. The steamboat not only moved people, but also goods. This opened the market for many items because these items …show more content…
Steamboats "were an environmental menace, destroying riverbank ecosystems and contributing to both air and water pollution. Nature was a thing to be tamed rather than protected by most during the industrial revolution. Coal, a primary fuel for steam engines, "required large quantities of water, which affects the habitats of both aquatic and land-based wildlife as well as people who use these water resources. The process of burning coal for energy produced greenhouse gases and other harmful pollutants, including carbon dioxide, mercury compounds, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Coal produced pollution, in addition, all steps of coal energy production: mining, transportation and cleaning produced greenhouse gas