Flatboat

Flatboat - Video Learning - WizScience.com

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• published: 07 Aug 2015
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A "flatboat" is a rectangular flat-bottomed boat with 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. 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 in width in order to successfully navigate the river but could range from 20 to 100 feet 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 keelboat was expensive and took weeks to make the journey up the Mississippi. Returning to northern reaches on foot required about three months. Wiz Science™ is "the" learning channel for children and all ages. SUBSCRIBE TODAY Disclaimer: This video is for your information only. The author or publisher does not guarantee the accuracy of the content presented in this video. USE AT YOUR OWN RISK. Background Music: "The Place Inside" by Silent Partner (royalty-free) from YouTube Audio Library. This video uses material/images from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatboat, which is released under Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ . This video is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0 http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/ . To reuse/adapt the content in your own work, you must comply with the license terms.