. The history of our country from its discovery by Columbus to the celebration of the centennial anniversary of its declaration of independence ... -president of the UnitedStates, was from thenceforth a disgraced and ruined man, and hisname ranked next to that of Benedict Arnold in ignominy, andthe contempt of all good patriots. The trial of Burr was the most important political event ofJeffersons second term. But the greatest event in his whole ad-ministration was now at hand. Let me tell you what it was. One day in September, 1807, a crowd of people were assembledon one of the piers of Hudso
. The history of our country from its discovery by Columbus to the celebration of the centennial anniversary of its declaration of independence ... -president of the UnitedStates, was from thenceforth a disgraced and ruined man, and hisname ranked next to that of Benedict Arnold in ignominy, andthe contempt of all good patriots. The trial of Burr was the most important political event ofJeffersons second term. But the greatest event in his whole ad-ministration was now at hand. Let me tell you what it was. One day in September, 1807, a crowd of people were assembledon one of the piers of Hudson River in New York city, to see anextraordinary boat set out on a voyage. The boat was not to becarried by oars or sails, but by steam, a wonderful new means oflocomotion, which James Watts of England had done much tobring into use as a motive power, and which manj- scientific men inEurope and America had been experimenting with during the lasthalf century. The enterprising American who had built the strangenew boat now about to start upon its trial trip, was Robert Fultonof Pennsylvania. He had started out in life as an artist, had painted. JEFFERSONS SECOND TERM. 309 a few tolerable pictures, but finally gave up art, and went to Franceto experiment there in many inventions with which his fertile brainteemed. Fortunately hemet in Paris, RobertLivingston, whom Jef-ferson had sent as minis-ter. Fulton told himabout a pet project of histo make boats movethrough the water bysteam. The idea wasnot an original one AvithFulton. Many othershad experimented withsteam, and twenty yearsearlier, an Americannamed John Fitch hadactually succeeded inpropelling boats by steamin regular trips for sev-eral weeks, on the Dela-ware River from Phila-delphia to Trenton. Butfor want of money, pow-erful influence, and other adverse causes. Fitch had failed to establish steamboat navigationand for years all attempts to make it successful had been was poor, as most great inventors have
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectuniteds, bookyear1881
