The nineteenth century

The nineteenth century was a great age of transportation advances that would only be eclipsed by the achievements of the twentieth century. The development of steam power, iron clad ships, accurate clocks (needed to determine a ship's longitude accurately at sea), railways and other technologies defined the century. Socially, transportation became much safer and cheaper than ever before. Large steam powered ships carried millions of European emigrants to America, Canada, and Australia.

Steam power : A steam engine performs mechanical work and thereby, performs the needed movement using the steam produced from boiling water. Its introduction formed the backbone of the Industrial Revolution—an era between 1760 and 1840 that saw the emergence of European and American business empires and the transition to manufacturing processes. It ushered in modernity through high levels of economic productivity. It also powered large shipping vessels capable of carrying more loads and travelling across greater distance than large sailing boats.

Iron clad ship : An ironclad is a steam propelled warship protected by iron or steel armor plates used in the early part of the second half of the 19th century. The ironclad was developed as a result of the vulnerability of wooden warships to explosive or incendiary shells. The first ironclad battleship,Gloire, was launched by the French in November 1859. The British admiralty had been considering armored warships since 1856 and prepared a draft design for an armored corvette in 1857; in early 1859 the Royal Navy started building two iron-hulled armored frigates, and by 1861 had made the decision to move to an all-armored battle fleet. After the first clashes of ironclads (both with wooden ships and with one another) took place in 1862 during the American Civil War, it became clear that the ironclad had replaced the unarmored ship of the line as the most powerful warship afloat. This type of ship would come to be very successful in the American Civil War

• Early 19th Century: Canal building in England and the United States was very popular in the early 19th century. For example, the Erie Canal (completed in 1825) made heavy transportation in New York State much cheaper. The Erie canal was widely admired as a feat of engineering and was expanded throughout the rest of the 19th century.

• 1825: The Stockton and Darlington Railway opens in England, the world's first passenger railway. The line covered 26 miles and took more than two hours to complete the journey.

• 1869: The first transcontinental railway is completed in America. The line was completed at Promontory Summit, Utah. Thousands of workers worked on building the railway including many Chinese workers and Irish laborers; many railway builders worked under very difficult conditions.