The Steam Engine Essay Research Paper In — страница 2

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enabled people to use more machines and to build larger factories. (Industrial Revolution. Earth Explorer). More machines and factories using the steam engine meant more production, more reliability, and cheaper prices. The steel industry was also revolutionized through the use of the steam engine. Steel, smelted from iron, was beaten, rolled or shaped on steam-powered machines. This steel became very cheap, and was able to be used for the railroad tracks, and also used later on in construction. (Gordon). Without the steal to be shaped so fast by the steam engines, countries couldn t have expanded its trade and travel the way it did. It is also said that, The water works and, in many cases, the canals could not exist without steam-power, for their very existence depended upon the

regular raising of large quantities of water to high levels. Steam was the only power that made this possible. (The Penetration of the Industry by steam power) Without the steam engine, these factories, mills, agricultural advances, and other industries could not have been revolutionized in the way they were. The steam engine used in means of travel revolutionized the transportation of goods, as well as the importing and exporting of them. The steam-powered railroad changed geography and history. When grain merchants transported their goods by horsepower, they could go only so far before the horse consumed more than it could carry. (Gordon) In this aspect, the steam engine in railroads allowed people to import and export their goods on a faster, more reliable, source. Another

major effect of the steam engine on society was the increased communication between different areas and countries relating to prices. Before the steam engine in the railroad, prices of products varied dramatically from area to area. Prices were lower in the area that produced a certain good and higher in an area that had to import it. Now for the first time prices seemed to be relatively equal due to the steam engine in the railroads. (Johnson, 35) The industry that the steam engine developed depended on transport of raw materials. The steam engine in ships carried these raw materials as well as finished products through waterways, for long distances. Goods could be transported by water at a speed of 20 miles per hour, which is a lot faster and economical than other methods.

Because of the steam engine, countries could now import and export with other countries at a faster pace than the wooden ships. Road Locomotives were fitted to carry out relatively long and fast journeys, hauling big loads on the hard road surfaces. This was an alternative to transporting products through railways, because there was a lack of the choice of routes. (Wise, 56) The steam engine used in these Road Locomotives , provided yet another means of transporting goods from one place to another quickly and directly which was important in transporting. Road locomotives were extremely efficient because if someone didn t have much money, than they could transport their goods via this transportation method. The coming of the lighter steam wagons revolutionized local delivery work,

horses being brought within a reasonable day s journey of the market. Jobs, such as timber hauling, previously carried out by teams of horses and dozens of men could be done by two engines and half a dozen men. (Johnson, 41) Steam engines used in the steam wagons brought about yet another technique to transport goods quickly, proficiently and in some cases cheaper, than the usual transporting of goods through horses. Not only did the steam engine lead into the use of the means of traveling, for the purpose of importing, local deliveries, and transports of materials, but it made those three things quicker and cheaper. Transportation, which is a necessity for everyone today, was revolutionized because of the steam engine. The steam engine allowed people to travel from one place, to

another, and start a new life, but also return to their old dwelling to perhaps visit family, to do business, or to do whatever that may be needed. It wasn t until the early 1800 s that one of the greatest inventions caused by the steam engine was invented, the railroad. Since several entrepreneurs saw that the potential of this was enormous, many entrepreneurial companies were formed to build railroads. The railroad caused an economic boom for many countries. The country that was the most effected by this was Germany. When they started the development of the railroads, they made over 2000 miles of connecting tracks to every part of the country. These railroads caused Belgium, Germany, and France to become the most industrialized Continental powers during the mid-nineteenth