Pennsylvania Develops Its
Industries in the 1800s
L E S S O N 2 2
Key Questions
1. What four transport systems
were operating at the same
time in history?
2. How did steamboats affect
the growth of Pittsburgh?
3. How did railroads improve
our travel system and
growth?
4. What natural resources helped
our state to become an
industrial giant?
5. How did Pennsylvania grow
from home industries to
factory industries?
KeyWords
steamboats
railroads
locomotives
iron ore
coke
refined
kerosene
oil
textile
Key People
John Fitch
Robert Fulton
Oliver Evans
Matthias Baldwin
Samuel Kier
EdwinDrake
Chapter 7
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115
Some Thoughts on
Transportation
I
n Lesson 21, we learned how
Pennsylvania slowly grew and
developed. As transportation systems
got better, so too did the movement of
people and products. The faster themeans
of transporting goods and people, the
greater the industrial growth became in
Pennsylvania.
Our transportation story does not end
with the steam engine. That inventionwas
built into ships and locomotives. Steam
engines moved both ships and railroads.
Ships needed deep water tomove whereas
locomotives needed rails upon which to
travel. As one better way of transportation
was invented, another kind of trans-
portation did not quickly disappear. The
Conestoga Wagons, canals, steamboats,
and railroads were all transporting people
and trade products at a similar time in our
history. It took time and money for new
inventions to catch on and become more
popular. As an example, let us continueour
storywith the steamboat.
Steamboats
A
s early as the 1780s,
John Fitch
of
Philadelphiahadbuilt andoperated
a
steamboat
along the Delaware
