Samuel Slater
Born June 9, 1768
Belper, England
Died April 20, 1835
Webster, Rhode Island
Industrialist who brought secret designs of early textile machinery to the United States
"I understand you have taught us how to spin."
U.S. president Andrew Jackson, who called Slater "father of American manufactures"
When Samuel Slater landed in the United States in 1789, he brought with him detailed plans to make automated machinery used to spin yarn from cotton, equipment that was a key element in launching the Industrial Revolution in the United States. The Industrial Revolution is the historical process of replacing traditional hand-crafted methods of manufacturing with complex machinery using energy sources besides muscle power, such as steam engines or waterwheels. Slater did not pack the plans in his baggage, which would have violated English law. He brought the designs in his head. After years of working with industrial equipment in England, he had memorized the thousands of details of how the machines worked. The United States at the time was eager to build textile factories similar to the ones that were changing the face of the British economy. Slater became known as the father of the American Industrial Revolution, and he started a string of successful textile factories in New England.
This page contains 201 words.
Slater, Samuel article
Read the rest of this article.
This article contains 2,141 words
(approx. 7 pages at 300 words per page).
Order our Samuel Slater Article
