Historedia
AmericasEvent

John Fitch steamboat demonstration on the Delaware River

When
1787
Where
Delaware River, Pennsylvania/New Jersey
Episodes
1

In August 1787, John Fitch conducted a successful trial of his 45-foot steam-powered craft on the Delaware River, witnessed by delegates of the Constitutional Convention — an early demonstration of steam navigation in the United States.

Episodes

  1. August 1787 (passages give August 22; legacy row says August 27) · Delaware River, Pennsylvania/New JerseySteamboat trial on the Delaware River

    John Fitch tested his 45-foot steam-powered craft on the Delaware River in August 1787, before Constitutional Convention delegates.

Background and detail

The Demonstration. Fitch's first boat, 45 feet (14 m) long, was tested on the Delaware River by Fitch and his design assistant Steven Pagano. Sources record the first successful trial run of the steamboat Perseverance on the Delaware in August 1787, in the presence of delegates from the Constitutional Convention, marking the beginning of the steamboat era in the United States.

People involved

  • John Fitch · Inventor and operator of the steamboat
  • Steven Pagano · Design assistant who assisted in testing the boat

Sources

  1. John Fitch (inventor) Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-15
  2. Steamboat Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-22

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.