Time Line

Time Line
From Artisan Craft to Mechanization

The purpose of this section is to give some examples of the shift from manual to mechanized labor. The 18th and 19th centuries were important in the development of time- and labor-saving devices. This produced increased output, and boosted the United States as a commercial power.

Year		Event
18th Century
Improvements in technology help to increase the speed of production. Early American factories (late 18th century) use water power, placing them near water sources. Farming still remains the preferred job by the working class.
1738		Lewis Paul takes out a patent for a roller based spinner.
1764		James Hargreaves (Brit.) invents the spinning jenny, a device that increases spinning capacity.
1769		Richard Arkwright (Brit.) patents the water frame, which makes use of rollers, instead of a spinning wheel.
1774		Chlorine discovered by Carl Scheele (Swedish).
1779		Samuel Crompton completes the "mule," a combination of the jenny and water frame.
1787		Richard Cartwright invents the automatic loom; made possible after the development of a glutinous material to strengthen the yarn.
1793		Eli Whitney invents the cotton gin.
1793		Samuel Slater initiates his spinning mill.
19th Century
1800's
Spinning mills have been already established, but weaving remains a local craft. This in combination with the cotton gin causes surpluses of yarn.
1810's
Lowell mills integrate weaving into their processes.
1813		Francis Cabot Lowell forms the Boston Manufacturing Company
1814		Lowell sets up all components of cloth-making, entirely automated
1820-40's
Lowell mills exemplify the American factory, described as having a disciplined work force, obeying moral codes of the company, and working by the clock. American mills still prefer water power (1840's), as opposed to the British steam powered preference.
1850-60's
American mills become more like that of the British. Factory work starts to become a necessity for the working class living near urban areas. Immigrant as a percentage of factory workers greatly increases by this point.

Through the turn of the 19th century, factories continue to become more mechanized and workers more routinized. They lose the control and skill that was typical of the artisan age. As a note for a future reference, Frederick Winslow Taylor (b. 1859) exemplifies the belief that a routinized and carefully monitored work force will better all of society with greater output. His beliefs are controversial, because they make the worker nothing more than part of a machine.