Despite the steamboat's enormous benefits, it also had several negative impacts.
For example, "steam propulsion is inherently dangerous, and the early steam engines could be a problem. To power a steam engine, you must produce heat to boil water and make steam. You must then pressurize the steam. It is the pressure, trapped in boilers, that creates the power to drive a piston and subsequently a wheel. In days when metallurgy was not as advanced, engineers had to estimate how much pressure boilers could withstand. They didn't always estimate correctly, as explosions were common" (Willis). Furthermore, "steamboats were fast and sometimes the speed could be deadly. There were crashes and explosions including the 1865 Sultana disaster in which over 1,700 people, most of them Union soldiers recently released from prison, died" (Woollard). The Sultana tragedy has been called "the worst maritime disaster in American history" (Kinsall).
"From 1811 to 1851, boiler explosions caused almost one quarter (21%) of river accidents. Because of all the dangers, steamboats did not last long. It was rare for a steamboat to last five years. The years between 1830 and 1839 saw the destruction of 272 steamboats after less than three years of travel each" ("A History of Steamboats").
For example, "steam propulsion is inherently dangerous, and the early steam engines could be a problem. To power a steam engine, you must produce heat to boil water and make steam. You must then pressurize the steam. It is the pressure, trapped in boilers, that creates the power to drive a piston and subsequently a wheel. In days when metallurgy was not as advanced, engineers had to estimate how much pressure boilers could withstand. They didn't always estimate correctly, as explosions were common" (Willis). Furthermore, "steamboats were fast and sometimes the speed could be deadly. There were crashes and explosions including the 1865 Sultana disaster in which over 1,700 people, most of them Union soldiers recently released from prison, died" (Woollard). The Sultana tragedy has been called "the worst maritime disaster in American history" (Kinsall).
"From 1811 to 1851, boiler explosions caused almost one quarter (21%) of river accidents. Because of all the dangers, steamboats did not last long. It was rare for a steamboat to last five years. The years between 1830 and 1839 saw the destruction of 272 steamboats after less than three years of travel each" ("A History of Steamboats").
The Sultana Tragedy
Steamboats "were also an environmental menace, destroying riverbank ecosystems and contributing to both air and water pollution. Nature was seen as a thing to be tamed rather than protected by most" (Woollard). Coal, a primary fuel for steam engines, "requires large quantities of water, which affects the habitats of both aquatic and land-based wildlife as well as people who use these water resources. The process of burning coal for energy produces greenhouse gases and other harmful pollutants, including carbon dioxide, mercury compounds, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. . . . coal produces more pollution than any other fuel source . . . In addition, all steps of coal energy production -- mining, transportation and cleaning -- produce greenhouse gas emissions. Coal contains methane, a combustible and potent greenhouse gas" (Lerche).
Additionally, steamboats faced attacks by Native Americans, who felt intruded by settlers. "Often, Indians would hide along the banks of a river and begin shooting at a boat when it got close enough. If a boat wrecked near the bank, the ship would certainly lose its cargo. The crew and passengers might even lose their lives" ("A History of Steamboats").
Additionally, steamboats faced attacks by Native Americans, who felt intruded by settlers. "Often, Indians would hide along the banks of a river and begin shooting at a boat when it got close enough. If a boat wrecked near the bank, the ship would certainly lose its cargo. The crew and passengers might even lose their lives" ("A History of Steamboats").
"Steam had the advantage of endurance; and the Indians with wild shouts, which might have been shouts of defiance, gave up the pursuit, and turned into the forest from whence they had emerged…Mrs. Roosevelt and himself were still discussing the adventure when they retired to rest. They had scarcely fallen asleep, when they were aroused by shouts on deck, and the trampling of many feet. With the idea of Indians still predominant, Mr. Roosevelt sprang from his bed, and seizing a sword - - the only weapon at hand - - hurried from the cabin to join battle, as he thought with the Chickasaws. It was a more alarming enemy that he encountered. The New Orleans was on fire…By dint of great exertion, the fire, which, by this time, was making rapid headway, was extinguished; but not until the interior wood work had been either destroyed, or grievously defaced…Few eyes were closed for the remainder of the night; nor did the accident tend to tranquilize the nerves of the travelers".
- J.H.B Latrobe describing an Indian attack on the New Orleans