Anotated Bibliography

Journal Articles



Atack, Jeremy; Bateman, Fred; Weiss, Thomas “The Regional Diffusion and Adoption of the Steam Engine in American Manufacturing.” The Journal of Economic History, Vol. 40, No. 2. (Jun. 1980): 281-308.
By 1900 almost 156,000 steam engines were used in factories. This is where the steam engine first gained popularity. The article also discusses the spread of the steam engine for various uses, one of which became known as the steamboat. In spite of the importance accorded the steam engine during nineteenth-century industrialization, little is known about its rate of diffusion in the United States. Another 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.

Brown, Alexander Crosby “The Old Bay Line of ...