PRESENTATION OUTLINE
INVENTIONS THAT ASSISTED IN WESTWARD EXPANSION
The cotton gin is a machine that separates the cotton fibers from their seeds, allowing productivity of cotton making. Previously, slaves on cotton plantations had to hand sort these cotton fibers from the seeds. Since this task of sorting was difficult it took the slaves ten times less the time to sort cotton than the cotton gin. This invention caused more southerners to move westward into hopes of more cotton producing land, along with doubling the production of cotton so the southerners had money to expand west. With everyone moving west in hopes of making money out in the west, this invention had started up many changes, such as slaves being more bold and risking running away.
The telegraph was a machine that could transmit messages from long distances, along a wire. This machine would not send voice, but pulses, beeps, off-tones, lights, and clicks. This invention helped very much in westward expansion, as it was used for telling the weather, communicating whether it was safe for traveling, or providing directions on where certain things, such as cotton planting land or gold. With this knowledge, settlers were bursting at the seems to expand west. Before, settlers would write letters and along with the messenger these letters would ride the distances for several months before arrival, making it very non convenient for an emergency situation or any news in general. With this telegraph, settlers could now send their messages and it arrive in no time, with no risk of the letter being lost. This invention, caused the discovery of long-distance
communication to grow and broadened the range of communication.
The steamboat was a boat that was made to go upstream, and was powered by a steam engine. This boat was used for traveling goods, crops, and people. With a means of transportation to go upstream, the steam boat allowed pioneers to travel west with canals that were later built to move west, to allow more settlement. Previously, pioneers would use rafts or flatboats to transport crops, and people. Since these boats were nothing but wood, they did not have the power to go up stream, and could not transport their goods everywhere. With the new invention of the steamboat, the pioneers were able to transport goods and medicine to save lives and expand. The invention of the steam boat allowed settlers and pioneers travel and expand into the United States. Without the steamboat,
our country could have never invented boats that use gasoline or have such a vast agricultural world.
The railroad was an invention the was a set of rails that a train would drive over that expanded over the United States and allowed settlers to travel in less time then carriage, horseback, or steamboat. With the invention of the railroad, settlers could travel on land faster and were not restricted to canals and rivers. It allowed settlers to expand at a rapid rate and convinced most to expand since the journey would not be as much of a risk for diseases, cold, and other harmful side effects for traveling without a railroad. Also, since it was much easier to transport goods, the goods that were being exported was very high for our country, so it would be able to afford more for explorations. Before our country used horses and steamboats to travel but the canals form the steam boat were expensive to dig and could on,h be used in summer time, or the canals would freeze.
The horses often got tired and would need rests and could die along the way. With the railroad, the tracks were not very expensive to make and could be used year round, and did not need to stop because it ran on coal which was already on board which cut the time of the journey in half. With the invention of the railroad, our America became smarter in the ways of traveling and the invention later developed into electric trains.
