G Block Market Revolution by Katie Dukes

Potash - America's first patent

kdukes1 — 2023-10-31 17:15:23 UTC

Potash is used in many different products including fertilizers, cloth, glass, gunpowder and more. Before Samuel Hopkins invented a specialized stove, farmers would often soak wood burned ashes in large cast iron pots. It was a long messy affair and produced small batches. It was a side hustle for many farmers. Hopkins created a furnace that could produce potash at a higher quality and larger volume. This new process scaled up production of a lucrative American export. Also, as the first issued patent it gave others confidence that they could benefit from sharing their inventions and innovations encouraging new developments leading the Market Revolution.

https://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-395#:~:text=Traditionally%20farmers%20made%20potash%20by,boiling%20the%20ashes%20in%20water.

Cumberland Road

2023-10-31 17:23:01 UTC

When this was first brought up, it sparked a lot of controversy because the traders were used to waterways being used for trade rather than land. After this road was built, many villages, towns, and roadside establishments were founded. The Cumberland Road made commercial trade faster and more unified. It also helped the states to have further westward expansion.

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/cumberland-road/

Steamboat

25cochj — 2023-10-31 17:24:13 UTC

The invention of the steamboat was first created by a man named John Fitch in 1787, and it was first demonstrated on the Delaware River. With the introduction of the steamboat, traffic increased heavily on the Ohio River and Mississippi River going both up and down in order to trade goods. There were different kinds of steamboats, including the flatboat, keelboats, and barges. With this new technology, it did bring difficulties at the time because of the ways that they would work. Boats would occasionally sink and sometimes the boiler would blow up. Eventually, steamboats were overthrown by gas boats and the invention of the railroad, but it would dominate transportation for a long time leading up to it, and led to the invention of other ways of transportation.

https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/steamboat/

Swivel Chair

25woodsn — 2023-10-31 17:25:06 UTC

The swivel chair was made in 1776, it allowed you to spin around in the chair and allow you to glide across the office without having to get up. Thomas Jefferson invented the swivel chair; Jefferson heavily changed the Windsor chair to have wheels on the bottom and a central iron spindle to allow the whole thing to move. This was made to make the work environment more efficient by not having to get up to get around the office and an overall more comfortable experience at work.

Steel Plow

25hagermane — 2023-10-31 17:25:36 UTC

The steel plow, invented by John Deere, was created to help farmers cut through tough soil easily. The plow, similarly to the cotton gin, allowed farmers to revolutionize their crops. It allowed them to utilize more of their land and create more efficient food production, boosting farmers' economic status'.

https://www.machinefinder.com/ww/en-US/faq/steel-plow-history#:~:text=Who%20Invented%20the%20Steel%20Plow%3F,farmer's%20wood%20plows%20kept%20breaking.

Lobster Trap

25costelloj — 2023-10-31 17:26:02 UTC

The lobster trap is another way of fishing. This allowed people to fish for lobsters and crayfish. Not just one at a time anymore but multiple. Before Ebenezer Thorndike invented it was a lot more time consuming to fish for lobster. This trap completely revolutionized lobster fishing.

https://lobsteranywhere.com/new-england-style/trap-lobster-from-maine/#:~:text=Next%20to%20the%20boat%20and,lobster%20trap%20revolutionized%20lobster%20fishing.

Suspension bridge

25arendss — 2023-10-31 17:29:05 UTC

Though the suspension bridge was invented in China/India around 2000 BC, the first modern suspension bridge was invented by James Finley in 1801. This invention facilitated transportation and commerce, and allowed travelers to continue on their journeys in a faster way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_United_States_inventions_(before_1890)

mechanical reaper

25feldmannm — 2023-10-31 17:29:10 UTC

at the time farming was done mostly with handheld tools and primitive plows pulled by horses and cows. Farmers would harvest grain by using handheld scythes which would take a long time to harvest a whole field of grain. With the introductions of the mechanical reaper, farmers could harvest their grain much faster thus saving them a lot of time. with this extra time farmers could plant more grain and harvest more grain. This caused larger and larger farms to pop up, some even being thousands of acres. All this extra grain allowed the population to increase in America and thus allow more workers in factories and other occupations.

The Steam Engine

25browne5 — 2023-10-31 17:30:58 UTC

The first steam engine was invented in England in 1712. It was originally used to pump water out of mines. It was used in most early factories to provide power to machine in order to produce goods more quickly. The steam engine works by trapping steam in a chamber. When the pressure in the chamber becomes too much, it pushes the piston trapping the steam up, moving the whole machine without any human effort. The steam engine runs on coal, oil, or wood, and the only manual labor required is to replenish the fuel supply to the engine. The steam engine was a revolutionary invention, and was used in many early like trains, ships, and factories.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steam_engine#:~:text=A%20steam%20engine%20is%20a,into%20rotational%20force%20for%20work.

Voltaic Pile

25ruppa — 2023-10-31 17:32:26 UTC

Invented by Alessandro Volta because of a dispute between him and Luigi Galvani. Galvani said electricity came from animal tissue and Volta argued that it was the contact between two metals. He created this battery using zinc and copper disk separated by cloth or paper soaked in salt and connecting the ends with wires. It generated a steady flow of electricity.

Fire Hydrant

25chambersj — 2023-10-31 17:33:19 UTC

The fire hydrant was made in 1801 by Frederick Graff Sr., Chief Engineer of the Philadelphia Water Works. He had the first patent for it. The modern version of the fire hydrant was made by Birdsill Holly in 1863. Before the invention of fire hydrants people had to use fire plugs to prevent a fire.

Timeline of United States inventions (before 1890) - Wikipedia

Maddie; Milling machine milling

25forsem — 2023-11-02 16:39:16 UTC

The milling machine was invented by Simeon north in 1816. It's a tool used for shaping metal and other solid materials. Before it's invention, people would have have to use a drill to change the shape of a solid or a metal.