Steam : The Untold Story of America's First Great Invention. This item is unavailable.Steam : The Untold Story of America's First Great Invention

John Fitch arrived in Philadelphia in 1787, with strange ideas and an even stranger boat. Fortunately for Fitch, the streets of Philadelphia in 1787 were running with strange ideas, as the Constitution of the United States was being written there at the time. The nation, then a fairly narrow strip of land divided by the nearly impassable Appalachians, had to secure independence through trade as it had through war and political finagling. In time George Washington, Thomas Jefferson (who ran the first patent board), Benjamin Franklin, James Watt, Thomas Paine and even Napoleon became involved with the story of the steamboat in America, all of them hoping water routes could be had, bought, or made to encourage trade. Eventually Robert Fulton, cash in hand, would arrive to clean up. Sutcliffe, a writer and editor, provides several illustrations. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Andrea J. Sutcliffe is an independent scholar and writer who has published nine books including Mighty Rough Times I Tell You, an edited compilation of narratives from former slaves, Touring the Shenandoah Valley Backroads, and The New York Public Library Writer's Guide to Style and Usage.