Flatboats are always rectangular and are flat bottomed. Flat-bottomed boats have two-chined hulls enabling them to be used even in bodies of water that are not very deep. This design makes the flatboat much less likely to ground. Each end of the flatboat is square and either passengers or freight is placed in these areas for travel.
Flatboats have no requirements regarding their size, but generally, they are large and sturdy vessels, much like a giant tub on the water, displacing the water as it travels. The only simpler structure of watercraft is the raft since it does not even have a hull.
Flatboats can be used to transport people, but more often, they are just used for freight. They generally take only one-way trips to their destinations. The flatboat is then taken apart for its lumber components after its job is done. A simple craft, it always travels downstream to its destination.
A man named Jacob Yoder invented the flatboat after serving in the American cause during the Revolution. The first craft made its appearance at Fort Red Stone, bringing a cargo of flour down the Monongahela River to New Orleans in the spring of 1872.