Robert Fulton patented the steamboat in 1809.

Although John Fitch was granted the first United States patent for the steamboat in 1791, Robert Fulton is generally regarded as the "father of steam navigation." His 1809 patent covered significant improvements to the steamboat, which allowed him to operate the first commercially successful steamboat service.

Smithsonian's History Explorer
The National Museum of American History's online transportation collection includes more than a thousand artifacts and photographs. Use the America on the Move Collection Search (9-12) to browse the collection by selecting multiple categories, eras, and regions. This collection object search is included in the online exhibition entitled America on the Move, which focuses on transportation in US history.

Science NetLinks 
To learn more about the history and science of invention and shipbuilding, see the three-part series of lessons from Science NetLinks titled "Ships." 

Ships 1: Give Me a Tall Ship (6-8) 
Ships 2: What Floats Your Boat? (6-8) 
Ships 3: Grand Designs and Great Failures (6-8) 

In these lessons, students research various types of ships, and then use that knowledge to design and test a model boat and to explain why two famous historic ships sank. 

For a simpler look at some of the concepts behind shipbuilding, see the Science NetLinks lessonSink It (3-5). In this lesson, students explore buoyancy, density and the scientific process through a series of hands-on experiments.

EDSITEment 
The EDSITEment lesson James Madison: Internal Improvements Balancing Act: Federal/State, Executive/Legislative (9-12) includes information about canal improvement requests made to Madison by Fulton and others and can help put Fulton's work in historical perspective.

ARTSEDGE 
Twain: Steamboat's a-Comin' (9-12) examines the mystique of rivers as inspiration for creative expression and focuses in part on the steamboat as a phenomenon in American history and as a source of creative inspiration.