Lesson 3: Britain in Transformation
The Revolution in Transportation
The steam engine also completely transformed transportation, and though the canals had their glorious years, they were soon to be eclipsed by the railroad. In the l780's steam was used to power riverboats; the work of U.S. inventors John Fitch, James Rumsey, and Robert Fulton, and the Scot William Syminton led the way.
Cornishman Richard Trevithick's high pressure steam engine was a major milestone in the development of the railroad. In l804, in a trial run, Trevithick carried l0 tons of iron and 70 men by a steam engine run on rails at Merthyr Tydfil in Wales. The locomotive had tentatively arrived on the world's scene.
English inventor George Stephenson ran his steam locomotive on the Killingworth colliery railway in l8l4, the first to go into regular service. In September, l825, the world's first steam locomotive passenger service began as the Stockton and Darlington Railway. In April, l822, the S.S. Aaron Manby, the world's first iron steamship was launched, and during the same year, the first iron railroad bridge was completed by George Stephenson for the Stockton-Darlngton line.
A new era in rail transportation was about to begin. In the meantime, road transportation began to benefit enormously through the enormous improvement of highways brought about by the experiments of Scotsman MacAdam. Before the l9th century ended, Britain’s place in the world was unparalleled in history. It had risen to world supremacy in so many areas. Prosperous at home, secure in its island nation, it had so greatly established its influence overseas that almost one third of the world was colored red on maps that showed the extent of the empire.
