Steamboats on the Hudson: An American Saga
Table of Contents

The Fight for Monopoly

Homepage/Introduction

• In the Beginning...
• Obtaining the right to exclusively sell a product or service (aka having a monopoly)

Battle of the Booklets, Part 1 - James Rumsey vs. John Fitch

• First Strike
• Counterpunch
• Refutation

Battle in the New York State Legislature

• 1787 (NYS Legislature, Laws of 1787, Chapter 57) | transcript of Chapter 57
• 1798 (Laws of 1798, Chapter 55) | transcript of Chapter 55
• 1803 (Laws of 1803, Chapter 94) | transcript of Chapter 94
• 1807 (Laws of 1807, Chapter CLXV [165]) | transcript of Chapter 165
• 1808 (Laws of 1808, Chapter 225) | tanscript of Chapter 225
• 1811 (Laws of 1811, Chapter 200) | transcript of Chapter 200

Battle In the Newspapers

• Announcement that Mr. Fulton's steamboat would begin ...
• Announcement that Mr. Fulton’s steamboat was “performing her voyage without sails ...
• Letter to the editor from Robert Fulton ...
• Ad announcing “The North River Steam Boat” would begin service ...

Battle of the Booklets, Part 2 - William Duer vs. Cadwallader Colden

• Aaron Ogden Petitions
• Robert Fulton Counters
• Cadwallader Colden Writes a Biography
• William Duer responds to Colden
• Colden Responds to Duer
• Duer Responds to Colden (again)

Battle in the Courts

• Picaroon Steam-Boats
  • Newspaper Advertisement for Steamboats Hope and Perseverance
• Gibbons vs. Ogden

Competition

• The Chief Justice Marshall (Steamboat)
• The Victory (Steamboat)
• Gibbons Papers

The Golden Age of Steamboat Travel

• Alida and Mary Powell
  • Letter of Captain A. Eltinge Anderson to William B. Elmendorf, June 9, 1906
• Hudson River Day Line, Daniel Drew and Chauncey Vibbard
• Albany and New York
• Hendrick Hudson and Robert Fulton
• Map: Hudson River Day Line Route
• Ad: Description of Hudson River Route | text of ad

Related Information

The Contenders

• James Rumsey
  • What George Washington said about Rumsey's boats
• John Fitch
  • Description and drawing of Fitch's steamboat
• Robert Livingston
• John Stevens
• Nicholas Roosevelt
• Robert Fulton
  • Fulton and Livingston's Steamboat
  • Two letters written by Robert Fulton in New York State Library's collection
  • Fulton's other interests
• James Van Ingen
• Aaron Ogden
• Thomas Gibbons
• James Kent
• John Marshall

Timeline
Research at NYSL

Last modified: January 9, 2009/dvm