|
A flatboat is a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with (mostly〔 NOTE: "()" wordings in the quote below are notes added to clarify :''There were a variety of specialized flatboats (developed ) to ship cargo to world markets. Some (meaning c. 1815–20, after steam boats became common ) flatboats were built with raked bows to be used on return trips alongside steamboats, serving as 'fuel flats', first hauling wood, then coal. These flatboats with raked bows evolved into coal boats. (Later,) Coal boats were tied together in fleets to be pushed by steamboats. Those coal boats evolved into the steel barges of today'' (plying the rivers servicing the coal fields of the Ohio River watershed). :—Nancy Jordan Blackmore, Janes Saddlebag 〕)〔 name=JanesFBHist>〕 square ends used to transport freight and passengers on inland waterways. The flatboat could be any size, but essentially it is large, sturdy tub with a hull that displaces water and so floats ''in'' the water. This differentiates the flatboat from the raft, which floats ''on'' the water. A flatboat is almost always a one-way vessel, and is usually dismantled for lumber when it reaches its downstream destination.〔 group=notes> 〕 ==Early history== The flatboat trade first began in 1781, with Pennsylvania farmer Jacob Yoder building the first flatboat at Old Redstone Fort on the Mononganhela River. Yoder shipped flour down the Mississippi River to the port of New Orleans. Other flatboats would follow this model, using the current of the river to propel them to New Orleans where their final product could be shipped overseas. Through the antebellum period, flatboats were one of the most important modes of shipping in the United States. The flatboat trade before the War of 1812 was less organized and less professional than during later times. Flatboats were generally built and piloted by the farmers whose crops they carried. They were limited to 20 feet (or approximately 6 meters) in width in order to successfully navigate the river but could range from 20 to 100 feet (or approximately 6 to 30 meters) in length. Flatboats could be built by unskilled farmers with limited tools and training making them an ideal mode of transport for isolated farmers living in the Old Northwest and the Upper South. Farmers could make the journey down the river after the harvest. The boats themselves were usually salvaged for lumber at New Orleans because they could not easily make the journey upriver. A boatman's return journey up the river was long and usually arduous. Passage on an (human-powered) keelboat was expensive and took weeks to make the journey up the Mississippi. Returning to northern reaches on foot required about three months. A flatboat itself was a serious investment for a Midwestern farmer. One generally cost about $75 to construct in 1800 (which was ), but could carry up to $3,000 worth of goods.〔Meyer, Balthasar Henry, et al. ''History of Transportation in the United States before 1860''. Washington 1917, pp.110〕 These flatboats could typically be salvaged for around $16 in New Orleans, recouping some of the initial investment.〔Berry, "Western Prices Before 1861". London, 1943, pp.23-24〕 Flatboats carried a variety of goods to New Orleans including agricultural products like corn, wheat, potatoes, flour, hay, tobacco, cotton, and whiskey. Livestock such as chickens, cows, and pigs also made their way down the Mississippi in flatboats. Indiana native May Espey Warren recalled seeing a flatboat loaded with thousands of chickens headed down the Mississippi as a young girl. Other raw materials from the Old Northwest, like lumber and iron were also sent down the Mississippi to be sold in New Orleans. Many American cities along the river network of the Mississippi boomed due to the opportunities that the flatboat trade presented. New Orleans was the final destination for most flatboats headed down the Mississippi, and it was there that most of the goods were shipped on the oceans. Cincinnati, another major American trading city, first built itself on the flatboat trade. Its large sawmills produced most of the heavy lumber sent down on flatboats and it also became a large hub for the pork trade. Other cities, like Memphis, Tennessee and Brownsville, Pennsylvania became hubs for outfitting and supplying flatboat traders.〔 The flatboat trade also led to a series of cultural and regional exchange between the North and the South. Many Northern flatboatmen had not seen the Southern United States before and rural farmers of the time generally did not travel. Flatboatmen brought tales of antebellum mansions lining the Mississippi and of the Cajun culture of lower Louisiana. They also brought back exotic foods such as bananas and animals such as parrots.〔 Abraham Lincoln served as a flatboatman twice in 1828 and 1831. It was on this journey that he first witnessed slavery and in New Orleans he also saw a slave auction firsthand. Lincoln would later recall these journeys as essential in shaping his personal views on slavery and the slave trade. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「flatboat」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|