America became the leading industrial power in the world in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It continues to play a leading industrial role today though the United States has moved into the "post-industrial" age. While there has been a proliferation of secondary literature in related historical disciplines, a number of critical problems remain to be investigated concerning the roots of the American industrial power. Drs. McGaw, Cooper and Smith are examining these roots through their study of significant aspects of American technology in the period 1750 to 1850. Dr. McGaw will be examining the domestic origins of the American Industrial Revolution, specifically how changes in agriculture and household food processing affected production and consumption behavior and created both the raw materials supplies and the demand that permitted industrial innovation. Dr. Cooper is examining the technology for wood working, the diffusion of changes in that technology, and the social effects on technological innovation by the patent management system. Dr. Smith is examining the "first stage" of the American Industrial Revolution entailing the mechanization of industry. He will then relate these developments to the "second stage" of science-based industrialization which followed. Through their common focus on early American technology and its mid-Atlantic development, their regular meetings with one another to discuss research problems and strategies, and their participation in several on- going scholarly projects devoted to the social and economic history of the mid-Atlantic region prior to 1850, their collaboration promises greatly to enhance their individual work. They also plan to interact with other historians participating in the "Transformation of Philadelphia Project" with which this study is associated, to bring in a series of visiting scholars, and to hold concluding conference and publish a volume of articles on early industrial technology and how it shaped the development of American industrial strength.
