Editing Robert Fulton (section)

===Career in the United States (1806–1815)===
In 1806, Fulton returned to the United States. In 1807, he and Robert R. Livingston built the first commercially successful steamboat, {{ship||North River Steamboat}} (later known as ''Clermont''). Livingston's shipping company began using it to carry passengers between [[New York City]] and up the Hudson River to the state capital [[Albany, New York|Albany]]. ''Clermont'' made the {{convert|150|nmi|km|adj=on}} trip in 32 hours. Passengers on the maiden voyage included a lawyer Jones and his family from [[Bethlehem, Pennsylvania]]. His infant daughter Alexandra Jones later served as a [[Union (Civil War)|Union]] nurse on a steamboat hospital in the [[American Civil War]].<ref>Alice Crary Sutcliffe, ''Robert Fulton and the 'Claremont' ''</ref>

The Clermont was the first successful steamboat in America.  While it was being built people called it "Fulton's Folly". The Clermont had sails as well as a steam engine. At each end of the boat was a short mast with a small square sail that could be unfurled when needed. The engine was in the center of the boat and was surrounded by cord wood. The engine was 24-horsepower. Above the engine was a tall and slender smoke stack. On each side was a big paddle wheel that was open and uncovered. The diameter of the paddle wheels was {{convert|15|ft}}. The boat itself was {{convert|136|ft}} long and {{convert|18|ft}} wide. Its displacement was 160 tons.<ref>Baldwin, James, ''Sailing the Seas'', American Book Company, New York, Copyright 1920, pp. 73–74,</ref> Fulton received two patents for his steamboat, one in 1809 and the other in 1811.<ref>{{cite web |title=Robert Fulton and the Claremont |url=http://www.patentlyinteresting.com/robert-fulton-and-the-steamboat.html |website=Patently Interesting |access-date=26 August 2023}}</ref>

From 1811 until his death, Fulton was a member of the [[Erie Canal Commission]], appointed by the [[Governor of New York]].

Fulton's final design was the [[floating battery]] {{ship|United States floating battery|Demologos||2}}. This, the first steam-driven warship in the world, was built for the [[United States Navy]] for the [[War of 1812]]. The heavy vessel was not completed until after Fulton's death and was named in his honor.

From October 1811 to January 1812, Fulton, along with Livingston and [[Nicholas Roosevelt (inventor)|Nicholas Roosevelt]] (1767–1854), worked together on a joint project to build a new steamboat, {{ship||New Orleans|steamboat|2}}, sturdy enough to take down the [[Ohio River|Ohio]] and [[Mississippi River|Mississippi]] rivers to [[New Orleans]], Louisiana. It traveled from industrial [[Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]], where it was built, with stops at [[Wheeling, West Virginia]]; [[Cincinnati, Ohio]]; past the "[[Falls of the Ohio]]" at [[Louisville, Kentucky]]; to near [[Cairo, Illinois]], and the confluence with the Mississippi River; and down past [[Memphis, Tennessee]], and [[Natchez, Mississippi]], to New Orleans some {{convert|90|mi}} by river from the [[Gulf of Mexico]] coast. This was less than a decade after the United States had acquired the [[Louisiana Territory]] from [[France]]. These rivers were not well settled, mapped, or protected. By achieving this first breakthrough voyage and also proving the ability of the steamboat to travel upstream against powerful river currents, Fulton changed the entire trade and transportation outlook for the American heartland.

Fulton was elected a member of the [[American Antiquarian Society]] in 1814.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.americanantiquarian.org/memberlistf|title=MemberListF|work=American Antiquarian Society|access-date=2015-04-14|archive-date=2015-04-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150418213155/http://americanantiquarian.org/memberlistf|url-status=dead}}</ref>