`Paul Reveres ride to warn the colonial militia of the British march on Lexington and Concord is a legendary contribution to the American Revolution. Midnight Ride; Industrial Dawn reveals another side of this American heros life; that of a transformational entrepreneur instrumental in the industrial revolution.Robert Martello combines a biographical examination of Revere with a probing study of the new nations business and technological climate. A silversmith prior to the Revolution and heralded for his patriotism during the war; Revere aspired to higher social status within the fledgling United States. To that end; he shifted away from artisan silversmithing toward larger; more involved manufacturing ventures such as ironworking; bronze casting; and copper sheet rolling. Drawing extensively on the Revere Family Papers; Martello explores Reveres vibrant career successes and failures; social networks; business practices; and the groundbreaking metallurgical technologies he developed and employed. Reveres commercial ventures epitomized what Martello terms proto-industrialization; a transitional state between craft work and mass manufacture that characterizes the broader; fast-changing landscape of the American economy. Martello uses Revere as a lens to view the social; economic; and technological milieu of early America while demonstrating Reveres pivotal role in both the American Revolution and the rise of industrial America.Original and well told; this account argues that the greatest patriotic contribution of Americas Midnight Rider was his work in helping the nation develop from a craft to an industrial economy.
#3087565 in eBooks 2010-02-15 2010-02-15File Name: B004A7YHIA
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