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History is fascinating and how it is distorted to fit facts. Take the Civil War for example. History tells us that the South was dependent on an economic model of agriculture with slaves while the north had those ingenious Yankees who figured out all sorts of neat industrial tricks and built factories and the like. Obviously, because they were smarter and more industrious.

But do you ever see it questioned as to why it was that way? What was the primary method of powering any machinery before steam took over? Well, water of course. And how was that accomplished? Water wheels of course. And what kinds of waterwheels were there? Well there were various kinds but for a big part of the time, there were two main types. There was the undershot wheel, one powered by water running through the bottom of the wheel. And there was the overshot wheel, water traveling over the top of the wheel. The overshot wheel was 90 to 95% efficient and could be adapted to run factories and the like, while the undershot wheel was 60 to 65% efficient and could only power smaller grinding mills and the like.

So, given that disparity, why would anyone ever build an undershot wheel. Well, geography, of course. Overshot wheels needed faster moving streams and since you can’t run water up hill unless you started it on a bigger hill first, big changes in elevation. So, you had to build your factories in places where you had fast streams. But, of course, in the days before railroads and good roads, water was also the way to transport things, so you needed easy access to navigatable water to ship the things you built in your factory.

So, with all that in mind, what did rivers and streams look like in places like Massachusetts and Connecticut where the earliest factories in the US were built? What did they look like in the entire South near the coast? In the early 19th century slow sluggish rivers found across the coastal South, did not lend themselves to industry because it did not have suitable power sources for overshot waterwheels close to the coast and transportation. While in the north, the coastal areas were close to exactly the kinds of streams needed for industry. The US firearms industry was the first industry to adopt mass production methods and it is no coincidence that many gun companies are still, or have been until very recently, based in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and New York.

It wasn’t until somewhere around 1876 that a steam engine with the necessary gearing and clutch assemblies was developed that could power entire factories from belts was developed.

Before the advent of modern power sources, geography controlled much much more than it does now. So much so, that our modern minds have forgotten things that people once took for granted and it obscures our insights into their thoughts and motives.