John Laurence Busch

2020 Charlotte, North Carolina

Abstract: In 1807, an American named Robert Fulton built and ran the first commercially successful steamboat in history. In so doing, Fulton achieved something epically important: he proved that humans could create an artificial power that altered a person’s location to practical effect faster than by natural means. No other invention had achieved such a thing before, and accordingly, steamboats may be considered the first “high technology” in history. Other entrepreneurs quickly followed in Fulton’s wake, building their own “steamers” for service on the same or different waterways. In short order, the question to be asked by anyone charging into this new industry was: is this other promoter of the “new mode of transport” a friend or a foe? This paper and presentation will explore how different entrepreneurs behaved in different ways upon facing the prospect of encountering steamboats for the first time. Included will be an examination of both promoters of the steam-powered vessels as well as proprietors of some of the older means of moving, and how cooperation varied depending upon local circumstances. The result will be a form of cooperation matrix for the first generation of the steam vessel era. The presentation will close by noting that similar cooperation and confrontation analyses could be conducted for the other time-and-space-altering high technologies that followed steam-powered vessels.