In the American Revolution, privateers transported arms, munitions and tropical products to the American continent. ... Following the American Revolution, many former privateers became captains on merchant ships, because without war, privateering was no longer needed on such a large scale.
Before, trains, cars, airplanes and trucks existed, rivers were used for travel. They carried people and goods. However, this way of transportation was very slow. All that changed with the arrival of the steamboat in the late 1700s and early 1800s. The steamboat could travel at the amazing speed of 5 miles per hour. It soon changed all over river travel and trade and dominated the waterways.
Answer:
I learned this not too long ago too!
I think the answer you are looking for is parallax. Hipparchus used parallax to not only measure the distance from the sun, but also the moon. Although he was off my a couple hundred yards or so he actually measured the moon before the sun.
