Samuel Slater And The Transformation Of America

There are several different ways that the industrial revolution transformed the United

States of America. There was an abundance of people along the way to help and support the buildup. At the same time, there were other people that did not support the changes and the huge transformation. Before the industrial revolution, many people worked in agriculture. They would make a living working on their farms with family members.

Samuel Slater was born on June 9th, 1768 in Belper, United Kingdom. Slater became involved in the textile industry at the age of fourteen. He stated working for Jedidiah Strutt.

Strutt was partners with Richard Arkwright and they were the owners of the first cotton mill in

Belper. Slater became a superintendent of Strutt’s

He did this in secrecy in hopes of making a fortune with the textile industry in America. He gained the name “Slater the Traitor” because of the bringing of the British technology and modifying it for the use of America. Several people emigrated before him with textile experience, but Slater was the first person who could build and operate the machines. Due to this achievement, Slater received funding from investors and had help building the machines from local artisans. In 1793, the first successful water powered textile mill was completed in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. This mill would increase the speed of cotton to be spun into yarn. After the completion of this machine, Slater received the name of “Father of American

Industrial Revolution” and “Father of American Factory System”, which was coined by Andrew

Jackson.

In 1803, Slater and his brother, John Slater, developed a mill village named Slatersville.

By 1807, Slatersville included two tenement houses for the workers, the company store, the

owner’s house and the Slatersville mill. At this time, the mill was the largest and most modern mill. Slater died at the age of sixty-six on April 21st, 1835 in Webster,

Whitney entered the class of

1789, at Yale, and graduated in 1792 as Phi Beta Kappa. He became an inventor when he could not continue more education in law.

At this point in time, muskets for war were created by individual craftsmen. Since they were created this way, they each had their own distinct design. If a part broke or messed up, the musket had to be taken back to the original craftsman for a new part. There was a potential war with France at that moment, so the government started looking to private contractors to supply muskets. Whitney designed interchangeable parts. These parts were able to fit with any musket. He promised to have ten thousand rifles manufactured in a two years. The government finally accepted his offer in 1798. He set up a place in Connecticut with machines that would allow laborers to slice metal by a pattern and have multiple pieces for different muskets. When each part was put together, it became a working musket. Eli Whitney died on January 8th, 1825 at

New Haven Connecticut at the age of 60.

As we can see, these are just two people out of several different people that have help change the industrial revolution and transformation of America. Samuel Slater and Eli