Here is your goal for this assignment: Write a report analyzing an inventor of your choice with the impact of the invention on the United States and daily life The late 19th century saw the harnessing of natural resources and an explosion of inventions that radically changed daily life and industry in the United States. New industries flourished with new products and jobs created for both men and women during this time. Select an inventor of your choice from the field of transportation, communication, agriculture, or industry in this unit. Research your chosen inventor by using three different sources and write a 500 word report summarizing your findings. In your report, analyze the technological, scientific, economic, social, or political impact of the invention on the United States and daily life. Include the year of invention and general use of the invention. Use proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling in your report. List your research sources in your report.

PLS HELP ME

anation becomes great because of great people. Often the people that make the greatest impact on progress are not national leaders, but brilliant men and women of ideas. A handful of individuals developed inventions in the first half of the nineteenth century that, not only had a direct impact on everyone's lives, but also affected the destiny of the American nation.

In the second decade of the nineteenth century, roads were few and poor. Getting to the frontier and instituting trade with settlers was difficult. In 1807, ROBERT FULTON sailed the first commercially viable STEAMBOAT, the CLERMONT, from New York City to Albany. Within 4 years, regular steamboat service from Pittsburgh took passengers and cargo down the Ohio into the Mississippi. Within 20 years, over 200 steamboats were plying these routes.

While New England was moving to mechanize manufacturing, others were working to mechanize agriculture. CYRUS MCCORMICK wanted to design equipment that would simplify farmers' work. In 1831, he invented a HORSE-DRAWN REAPER to harvest grain and started selling it to others in 1840. It allowed the farmer to do five times the amount of harvesting in a day than they could by hand using a scythe. By 1851, his company was the largest producer of farm equipment in the world.

Cyrus McCormick and his reaper

Cyrus McCormick's reaper was five times more efficient than hand harvesting wheat, but at first farmers looked upon the invention as a novelty.

In 1837, JOHN DEERE made the first commercially successful RIDING PLOW. Deere's steel plow allowed farmers to turn heavy, gummy prairie sod easily, which stuck to the older wooden and iron plows. His inventions made farm much less physically demanding. During the Civil War, 25 years later, even women and young children of the South would use these devices allowing the men to be away at war.

Another notable American inventor was SAMUEL F.B. MORSE, who invented the electric TELEGRAPH and MORSE CODE. Morse was an artist having a great deal of difficulty making enough money to make ends meet. He started pursuing a number of business opportunities which would allow him to continue his work as an artist. Out of these efforts came the telegraph. With the completion of the first telegraph line between Baltimore and Washington in 1844, almost instant communication between distant places in the country was possible. The man who was responsible for building this first telegraph line was EZRA CORNELL, later the founder of CORNELL UNIVERSITY.