Velocipede

Velocipede was a term French inventor Nicéphore Niépce used to describe his version of the Dandy Horse also known as Laufmaschine (German for Running Machine). The year was 1818. The Dandy horse was built in 1817. Today the term is used to describe most of the early forms of bicycles.


These first Dandy Horses and Velocipedes were moved along with the rider walking on the ground. The effort gave the walker further distance with his steps. The first pedaled bikes were invented nearly 40 years later.

Google books also offers a book about the history of Velocipede This book was printed in 1869

And for some additional info and images check out Wikipedia.

Panic of 1819

The Panic of 1819 was the first major economic crisis in America and it was called a depression. The cotton market prices failed and banks called in loans. It lasted for 2 years. Below you will find some excerpts from books found at google that will give you a basic idea of what was going on during the time of this economic crisis of the United States.

The circumstances of why the panic of 1819 occur was summarized in "What are the facts? Protection and reciprocity illustrated by Henry F. Clark ©1892 says:


The war with Great Britain (1812-1815) continued an extreme protection as to England (See Query 24), and the increased tariff rate of that war period provided protection as to other countries. During these nine years, home industries were greatly stimulated. The close of the war and the reduction of the tariff removed the protection, and there followed one of the most disastrous panics which the country has suffered.

With an eye for an overview of the history of America, "the American Nation, a History: Rise of the New West, 1819-1829 by Frederick Jackson Turner © 1906
Wrote this about the Politics of presidents at the time.

CHAPTER XVI
PRESIDENT ADAMS AND THE OPPOSITION (1825-1827)
FOR eight years President Monroe had administered the executive department of the federal government—years that have been called the "Era of Good Feeling." The reader who has followed the evidences of factional controversy among the rival presidential candidates in the cabinet, and noted the wide-spread distress following the panic of 1819, the growing sectional jealousies, the first skirmishes in the slavery struggle, and the clamor of a democracy eager to assert its control and profoundly distrustful of the reigning political powers, will question the reality of this good feeling. On the other hand, in spite of temporary reverses, the nation as a whole was bounding with vigor in these years of peace after war; and if in truth party was not dead, and a golden age had not yet been given to the American people, at least the heat of formal party contest had been for a time allayed. The bitterness of political warfare in the four years which we are next to consider might well make the administration of the last of the Virginia dynasty seem peaceful and happy by contrast.

And with regard to one state it was reported in "History of Kentucky" Vol. 2 ©1922

Kentucky was fast becoming the storm center of a world-wide mone-1 tary and business disturbance, thePanic of 1819. For various reasons, many of which were not peculiar to this panic but rather common to all, world conditions were out of joint; but it seemed that in Kentucky there had been causes of a local nature almost sufficient to produce a panic. The prices of everything offered for sale came down almost to the vanishing point when compared to the high levels of a few years previously. It was reported in 1820 corn was selling in some parts of the state for 10 cents a bushel and wheat at 20 cents.38 A traveller stated that land around Lexington and Frankfort was selling for only one-sixth as much as it was bringing a few years earlier.30 The Kentucky Gazette said, "The price of property is exceedingly depressed. Real estate will not sell for one-fourth of its value." An example of the hard times resulting in forced sales was the case of a factory near Lexington costing $150,000 which with other valuable buildings and about one hundred acres of land was sold for $21,000—and on credit at that.40 A writer to the Kentucky Gazette gave this further dismal picture of the times: "Slaves which sold some time ago, could command the most ready money, have fallen to an inadequate value. A slave which hires for $80 or $100 per annum, may be purchased for $300 or $400. A house and lot on Limestone Street, for which $15,000 had been offered some time past, sold under the officer's hammer, for $1,300. A house and lot, which I am informed was bought for $10,000, after $6,000 had been paid by the purchaser, was sold under a mortgage for $1,500, leaving the original purchaser (besides his advances) $3,500 in debt. A number of sales, which excited at the same time astonishment and pity, have occurred in this town. Comparisons of local sufferings should not be indulged in, but I am told that Lexington is less afflicted than almost any part of the state." 41

First Raw Cotton Mill in the United States

In 1813 the Boston Manufacturing Company purchased Boies Paper Mill and converted to a cotton textile mill. This mill was the first to convert raw cotton to useable textiles here in the United States. Francis Cabot Lowell was responsible for this progress. Today the sight is the location of a housing complex in his name.

In 1814 They introduction of the first power loom; manufacture of all phases of cotton production in one plant; large labor force initially consists primarily of Yankee farm women. Francis Cabot Lowell perfected his power loom in Waltham, and the textile industry, which was to transform Lawrence, Lowell, Fall River, New Bedford, and other cities into great manufacturing centers, was off to a flying start.

Savannah River - Cotton

Below you'll find a list of shipments out of Savannah to various parts of the world. Cotton was the primary export in the 19th Century but it wasn't the only export. The Savannah River was of prime importance for the exporting business. Pole Boats were used to bring the goods from Augusta down to Savannah.

The exports from Savannah:
Sea Island cotton, . 10 722 bales.
Upland ditto, . . 62,698
Rice, . . 15.798 whole tierces.
2,336 half ditto.
Tobacco, . . 1,501 hogsheads.

The quantity of cotton exported from Savannah, from the 1st of October 1815 to the 10th of February 1816, was,
from the 1st of November 1815 to the 27th of April 1816, were as follows:
To England, . 14,552 bales Upland,
Ditto, . . 3,638 ditto Sea Island.
To France, . 4,346 ditto Upland.
Ditto. . . 97 ditto Sea Island.
To Europe, . . 874 ditto Upland.
Ditto, . . 40 ditto Sea Island.
Coastwise, . .10,123 ditto.

Total, 83,670 bales.

After the invention of the steamboats, pole boats were less and less used but they were still used at the time of the writing of
STATISTICAL, POLITICAL, AND HISTORICAL ACCOUNT of THE UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA; FROM THE PERIOD OF THEIR FIRST COLONIZATION TO THE PRESENT DAY. Printed by George Ramsay and Co. Edinburgh, 1819.

Steam-boats have been established on the Savannah river. One, called the Enterprise, made the passage from Savannah to Augusta, with two freight boats dragging, in eight days, and returned with the current in three and a half. The pole boats require fourteen days to ascend the same distance, and from five to seven to descend. Two other steam-boats are now building, by a company, for the purpose of dragging freighted boats to and from Augusta.

NY Canals 1860

According to the History of Railroads & Canals ©1860, the state of NY reported this list of Canals.

NEW YORK STATE CANALS

Erie Canal. Opened in 1825
Champlain Canal. Completed in 1819
Black River Canal. (was a feeder canal to Erie)
Oneida Lake Canal. Completed in 1802
Oswego Canal. Opened in 1828
Seneca River Towing Path. completed in 1839

Baldwinsville Side-cut. purchased by the state in 1853
Cayuga And Seneca Canal. completed in 1839
Crooked Lake Canal. completed in 1833
Chemung Canal. completed in 1833
Chenango Canal. commencement of work 30th Sept. 1859
Genesee Valley Canal. completed in 1859

Statehood of States in the United States

When the 19th century began there were 16 states to the union by the end of the century there were 45.

In the columns below you'll see the number in which the state joined the union, the state and then the date.

17 Ohio Mar. 1, 1803
18 Louisiana Apr. 30, 1812
19 Indiana Dec. 11, 1816
20 Mississippi Dec. 10, 1817
21 Illinois Dec. 3, 1818
22 Alabama Dec. 14, 1819
23 Maine Mar. 15, 1820
24 Missouri Aug. 10, 1821
25 Arkansas Jun 15, 1836
26 Michigan Jan. 26, 1837
27 Florida Mar. 3, 1845
28 Texas Dec. 29, 1845
29 Iowa Dec. 28, 1846
30 Wisconsin May 29, 1848
31 California Sep. 9, 1850
32 Minnesota May 11, 1858
33 Oregon Feb. 14, 1859
34 Kansas Jan. 29, 1861
35 West Virginia Jun. 20, 1863
36 Nevada Oct. 31, 1864
37 Nebraska Mar. 1. 1867
38 Colorado Aug. 1, 1876
39 North Dakota Nov. 2, 1889
40 South Dakota Nov. 2, 1889
41 Montana Nov. 8, 1889
42 Washington Nov. 11, 1889
43 Idaho Jul. 3, 1890
44 Wyoming Jul. 10, 1890
45 Utah Jan. 4, 1896

Wagon Train & Prairie Resources

Over the years I've posted several blogs regarding wagon trains and traveling west. Below is a list along with a few other items of interest for those of you writing during the 19th Century Historical West.

Westward Ho!
Westward Ho! Part 2
Westward Ho! Part 3
Westward Ho! Part 4
Westward Ho! Part 5

Conestoga Wagon One of the most common used as the Prairie Schooners.

Oregon Trail Outfits

Prairie Traveler Water

Prairie Traveler Livestock

Prairie Traveler Boots

Tabacco Alternative

Prairie Traveler Food Sustenance

Prairie Traveler Medicine

First Major Wagon Train

Pioneer Preacher

Each of the Books listed below are available for free on Google Books:
The Prairie Farmer

Prairie Traveler ©1859

Story of the Wild West and Camp-fire Chats by Buffalo Bill ©1888

Illustrated Sketches of Death Valley and Other Borax Deserts ©1892

Boy Life on the Prairie ©1899

The Romance of Conguest ©1899