The Regional Diffusion and Adoption of the Steam Engine in American Manufacturing

Abstract

In spite of the importance accorded the steam engine during nineteenth-century industrialization, little is known about its rate of diffusion and the determinants thereof in the United States. The primary purpose of this paper is to enhance our knowledge about the spread of this technology. New evidence on steam power use in 1820, 1850, and 1860, combined with published census data from 1870, permits quantitative estimates of the regional variations in timing, pace, and extent of usage before 1900. Second, we advance reasonable conjectures for the regional differences that appear. Although lack of evidence precludes a definitive delineation of causality, with simulation techniques we are able to use the limited evidence available on costs to reconcile, albeit imperfectly, the historical pattern with economic-theoretic predictions regarding the process of innovation.

Steam Power, Establishment Size, and Labor Productivity Growth in Nineteenth Century American Manufacturing

“…With one qualification (see below), these samples are self-weighting and nationally representative. As it happens, these census years are coincident with much of the diffusion of steam power in U.S. manufacturing during the nineteenth century (Fenichel 1966;Temin 1966;Atack, Bateman, and Weiss 1980).…”

Long Run Employment and Income Growth: A By Sector Analysis

“…This boom was made possible by a similar revolution in the transportation sector, giving firms greater access to coal over a wider geographic area and thereby reducing the cost of using steam power (Atack, 1979;Atack, Bateman, & Weiss 1980). The transportation sector revolution replaced wind and animals with steamboats and steam-powered locomotives to stay abreast of the increasing demand.…”

Technological Breakthroughs and Productivity Growth

“…By 1869 the total power capacity in US manufacturing had increased to 1,216,000 horsepower. Around 1820 waterwheels probably outnumbered steam engines by 100 to 1 in the US, but by 1870 this difference had narrowed to about 5 to 4 (Atack et al 1980). These figures indicate that the breakthrough in the diffusion of the steam engine in the US manufacturing took place in the middle of the century.…”

“…The price difference between steam power and waterpower remained high. However, the cost disadvantage was gradually overcome by the mobility advantage and the increased efficiency of new generations of steam engines (Atack et al 1980).…”

“…According to Atack et al (1980) there was only one manufacturing plant using steam power in the US before 1776 compared to 130 in Britain. In 1838 the total steam power capacity in US manufacturing was 36,100 horsepower (Atack et al 1980). A crude estimate of the corresponding figure for the UK was 350,000 horsepower (Tann 1988).…”