| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,800,000)
Fiscal Year 1998: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000)
Fiscal Year 1997: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000)
Fiscal Year 1996: ¥800,000 (Direct Cost: ¥800,000)
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| Research Abstract |
The research was focused upon Slater Mill at Pawtucket, Rhode Island, the first factory in the United States. The papers of Almy and Brown, which invested in the factory, were the major source materials.
The American Industrial Revolution started in the Slater Mill in 1790. This view may seem rather dated, but it is still the standard interpretation in textbooks, and Samuel Slater, who constructed the first waterpowered machinery in America, is usually called the father of American manufacturing. However, the contribution of local artisans in Pawtucket should not be forgotten. Since the machine in a factory is a system, not only water-frame but other parts were quite important.
At the same time, Slator's factory produced only cotton yarn, and preparation, weaving, and finishing had to be done by hand. Young women prepared cotton by hand under the putting-out system, young apprentices did weaving in a central shop, and indipendent artisans finished the product using traditional methods.
Slater Mill thus embodies the continuity and discontinuity of American industrial Revolution.
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