Following their historic trip up the Hudson, Fulton and his partner realized the importance of the great rivers of America and the part they would soon play in opening much of the land acquired through the Louisiana Purchase. By 1816, a large fleet of passenger and freight steamboats were built to travel on the Mississippi River and its tributaries, supplying economical and fast transportation. Fulton is credited with facilitating migration to this part of the country that, until then, was largely inaccessible.
Artist turned inventor
Robert Fulton was born in Little Britain, Lancaster County, Pa., in 1765. He showed a gift for drawing; when he turned seventeen, he went to Philadelphia to study portrait and landscape painting as well as mechanical drawing.
The next year, he was off to England to study art under his distinguished neighbor, Sir Benjamin West, who was later elected president of the Royal Academy.
Fulton’s talents were soon recognized, and his portraits exhibited at the Royal Academy and the Society of Arts in Great Britain. His own portrait, which he painted, hangs today at the American Society of Mechanical Engineers in New York.
He may have been an artist by profession, but he was an engineer and inventor at heart. His early efforts were spent on submarine warfare, a totally new concept at the time. His most effective work in this field was the construction of a practical submarine called the Nautilus. This vessel, 6 feet in diameter and 20 feet long, was built of iron and copper, and in general outline resembled the modern submarine. It had a sail for surface navigation, which could be folded when the submarine was diving.
Patriot or turncoat?
Napoleon I and the French government weren’t interested in Fulton’s inventions that would aid their attack upon the English fleet, so he offered his plan to the British government. They, too, did not want to encourage submarine warfare because of the potential devastation it could bring.
Obviously, Fulton’s morals came into question because at the time, the U.S. was at war with the British, which led to the War of 1812. “Here was an American trying to sell this war materiel to the English,” Sale says. “It was nearly treason. It was an act that only a driven man would make. Fulton lived out his American Dream of riches and fame, but it turned him into a rather unpleasant man.”
The Hudson River Maritime Museum in Kingston N.Y., is a must see, especially on the 200th anniversary of Fulton’s first trip up the Hudson. Across the Hudson River in Germantown is the Clermont Estate, home of the socially and politically prominent Livingston family and open to the public. Call 845-338-0071 for hours of operation and ticket prices.