Pawtucket Sentinal
February 5, 1854
With Peace and Commerce, America Prospers
We are in the middle of an Industrial Revolution. Cities all across the north have turned to machines to do the work that men used to do. These machines can produce goods much more quickly and efficiently. Nowhere else is this more evident than in the textile mills. Making cloth by hand one thread at a time was tedious and time-consuming. Now factories are using the water frame to produces dozens of threads at once with just a fraction of the workers! Unfortunately, these changes are happening quick enough. Many people still prefer farming to factory life. But with the scarce farmland costing what it does and prices of European farming equipment skyrocketing since the blockades of the War of 1812, there may be a rise in the numbers of factories we see popping up in the New England states. Even Thomas Jefferson has got on the technology bandwagon.
Water Frame
Richard Arkwright was the creator of this invention that uses water power to spin cloth.
Thomas Jefferson
"I am persuaded that machinery moved by water (and) adapted to this business would greatly reduce the labor and facilitate the manufacture of this article."
Businesses Lead the Way
Many hope higher tariffs on foreign goods will lead to Americans buying domestically.