Notes+Monday+July+17

LP for the day: Cotton Tales – follow the cotton from planting and picking to making cloth. It emphasizes the relationship between the north and the South.

__Announcement:__ Boarding house dinner tonight. Tomorrow Sturbridge – drive or take bus at 8 a.m. If driving be there by 9:30 a.m. Bus will be on French St.

Hospitality Room 821 at the Conference Center.

Acting Director of Lowell National Parks Service – Welcomed group

Assistant Director – Becky _____

George Orwell – When Burnham’s master was writing class divisions were not only ____ but desirable.”

Dr. Merritt Roe Smith (historian of technology) Sir Thomas Carlyle 1829 “Signs of the Times” essay “gentlemen this is an age of machinery….this is something quite new. Captures the essence of the IR, begins not just in England, but in Europe. (France, Britain, & Germany). By 1790 IR was making inroads into the U.S.

Steam engines in England were used for pumping out mines. Emphasis: (transformative events) 1. Textiles 2. Advent of steam transportation (rivers and railroads) (this was evidence that something was happening in the U.S.

Point: there are many events other than above. The three components are:

Daniel Walker Howe (UCLA) //What Hath GodWroth?// Communications set the stage for the IR

1. High speed rotary presses (pamphlets, newspaper, & books became more available) Reform movements came about through this availability since groups could advertise.

2. U.S. Post Office – materials could be distributed faster over broad sectors of the country. Government started development of road and railroads so the PO could expedite mail.

3. 1844 Samuel Morris telegraph. First big line built between Baltimore and Washington. Government subsidized the lines at first.

Point: time became important


 * US Congress put up $30,000 in 1830 to put up the telegraph line. The government quickly started it and once it became profitable, government was in and private investment in.

The role of government has been critical to the development of technology.

Eli Whitney (he didn’t invent either….worked on development) 1. Developed a cotton gin that was effective in removing the green seeds of cotton. Black seeds were easy to take out, but his contribution was also removing the green seeds. 2. Interchangeable gun parts – Whitney never developed interchangeable parts.

Interchangeable gun parts: (the uniformity system)

Simeon North – Middletown, CN first contract in 1798 making pistols, 1813 signed a contract to make the firing mechanism with uniform parts, but by 1816 he had succeeded.

John H. Hall – patented a bridge-loading rifle 1819 – by 1826 he developed the rifle (1,000 of them)

Ordnance Department went to Harpers Ferry in 1826 and developed a report “we have never seen anything like this before” – Carrington (Eli Whitney’s workshop assistant).

__Timeline:__


 * 1834** – Hall & North made small batches of guns that were interchangeable.
 * Early 1840’s** - Springfield National Armory – produced of 10,000 to 15,000 military muskets were manufactured. First used in the Mexican war.
 * By 1840’s** – Samuel Colt’s revolver was available.

The new technology did not stop with firearms. It began to spread out into the general population. “Armory Practice” is what interchangeable parts were known as. First domestic example – sewing machines Hall elaborated on it a couple of years later. Hall patented it, but made no money on it.
 * Mid 1840’s up to the end of the century** –
 * Century end** – Henry Ford
 * ???** North never patented anything. He invented the modern milling machine.

1798 – 1852 North had contracts with the Armories, so he agreed not to patent and collect royalty. Exchanged contracts and the future contracts for not filing for patents.

ADDITIONAL NOTES & ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS:

Inspectors would watch what Hall and North were doing and report to the government when new plans were seen on the inspections.

Patents picked up when the government released the new ideas and private individuals would pick up on it and improve it. (example: Pratt & Whitney)

National Armory idea came from George Washington (1795) – Hamilton wrote a report of manufacturers and suggested a development of a National Armory.

Springfield, Mass. was the place where the first car and motorcycle was made. (not Detroit)

The capabilities of the U.S. became visible during the Civil War. Importance of factories:
 * 1) Springfield (produced nearly a million guns in 4 years)
 * 2) 1861 – 13,800/yr
 * 3) 1862 - 102000 /yr
 * 4) 1863 - 217000/yr
 * 5) 1864 – 276,000/yr
 * 6) 1865 – 195,000/yr
 * 7) 1866 – 2,400/yr
 * 8) Colts factory

Ford’s mass production of the Model T –

Year # Produced 1913 - 189,000 1914 - 230,000 1915 - 294,000 1916 - 585,000

???? Was there something that led the government to get out? Ans: not really The government wanted to make new technology available to the private industries.

Government paid American merchants by foreign countries’ merchants. Daniel Webster while a Congressman represented the business men and won funds, which went to develop factories in Lowell.

1824 Congress passed the General Survey Act – if a private organization needs engineers to survey they can apply to the Army Corps of Engineers for workers to survey. The Army paid the engineers for work on a private railroad. George Washington Whistler was one of those workers and ended up later in Petersburg, Russia with son Jamie (famous artist).

After the Civil War there was significant movement West. Surplus left over and contracts were cancelled. Government and gun industries look for buyers and they were International (Example: 1878 Russia and Turkey went to war) Sold guns all over the world – Japan, Eventually many gunmakers went bankrupt.

Pratt & Whitney approached Germany about making tools to produce the Mouser rifle. The rifle was so sophisticated it drove many U.S. companies out or reduced market opportunities.

Colt won a prize Then Parliament sent a committee in 1854 to tour and visit Lowell. Then ended up buying $105,000 worth of guns.
 * Crystal Palace 1851** – first large International exhibition with all the artist. U.S. brought machinery – Hobbs moved his business to London after picking a Brahms lock.

American method of manufacturing was actually the French method – however it was successful in the U.S.

Rifle Production per worker 1820’s - 60 1864 - 100

Dr. Patrick Malone

New Lothian, Southern Scotland Theory was that if the living conditions and treatment of workers improved, work would improve. Picture of New Lanark

Waltham carried out this theory of canals and dams/ falls.

Picture of Waltham with mill on the left and dam to the far left. Other mills were added along the riverbank.

Pawtucket Falls was ‘discovered’ Small mills were in Lowell already and a few hundred people lived there. BMC bought up land secretly and get control of the old canal and the water rights. They believed there could be as many as 60 mills.

Took 54 hp to run the second mill in Waltham.

1 Mill power = 54 hp it is for 6 days a week, for one year.

In 1825 BMC decided to lease water power to other corporations. The companies they dealt with were their friends. Picture yellow map 1825

Urban development had to fill in where the mills didn’t go.

Picture (National Geographic) Dr. Malone drew this with NG Picture Dr. Malone model he built with plexiglass (model in the building)

1832 10 or 11 thousand people

Picture – show people raising the dam. Jagged rocks were later ground down.

Picture – Canal system

Picture – water flow

The canal retained It’s transportation. They planted trees

They were very concerned with their public image.

James P. Frances came to America in 1836. At 22 he took over engineering the canal system in 1937. The company bought up the lakes

Picture – Northern canal – the one Frances built.

Gatehouse is location of the first Francis Turbine – used to open and close gates.

Francis didn’t like wasted power.

All of the elms planted died since that time of disease.

By 1830 Boott put a fish way in. Then took it out when Lawrence didn’t have one. 1868 they were forced to revisit the problem.