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Throughout the colonial period in America, it was the farmer, not the businessman, who was the average American citizen. The new technology that mechanized England's factory system was unknown in the colonies, where most of the production was still being done manually. From 1776, with the Declaration of Independence, until the last battle of the Revolution in 1781, the colonies were busy trying to break political ties to Britain. However, Americans were still very dependent upon Britain economically, especially for manufactured products. Machine-spun cotton, for example, was much cheaper and of better quality than most of what was hand spun. "Be not discouraged. There is a future for you . . . The resistance encountered now predicates hope . . . Only as we rise . . . do we encounter opposition."- Frederick DouglassThroughout the period of the Revolution and for years afterwards, Britain did all it could to prevent the export of machinery that had made its factory system the greatest in the world and had given the country a monopoly in many markets. The British government placed restrictions on blueprints and plans of machinery and even forbade certain workers who were familiar with machine designs from leaving the country. 26 |
