Final answer:
Steamboats revolutionized the transportation of goods within the booming cotton economy and enabled rapid economic development, yet for enslaved people, they were a means of forced relocation and a representation of the horrors of the slave trade.
Step-by-step explanation:
Steamboats became a significant technological advancement in the transportation and economic landscape of the 19th century, particularly affecting the lives of free and enslaved people. For the economy, steamboats were vital to the cotton kingdom, dramatically enhancing the capacity to transport goods along rivers, such as the Mississippi, not just downstream with the current, but also upstream against it. This advancement led to an explosion of trade and the ability to maintain regular schedules.
However, for enslaved people, steamboats were a symbol of forced movement and separation, as they were used extensively in the domestic slave trade. Enslaved individuals were transported in deplorable conditions on these vessels, often facing the permanent severance of family ties and being taken to markets in the Lower South for sale. Steamboats were not just commercial entities; they were also instruments of oppression and upheaval in the lives of enslaved people.